BLUFFTON, Ohio—The Allegheny College volleyball team split a pair of matches to conclude the Bluffton University Fall Classic Saturday (Sept. 16).
In their first match of the day, the Gators fell to host Bluffton 3-1 (25-13, 25-19, 22-25, 25-11).
The Gators got out of the gate quickly, taking a 4-1 lead, but the Beavers responded with a 9-1 run to take control of the set. The momentum gained continued through a Gator timeout as they won the set 25-13.
In the second set, the teams traded points early on until a 3-0 run gave the Beavers a 9-6 lead. The lead increased to 12-7 before the Gators called a timeout to halt the momentum. Following the timeout, Bluffton increased their lead to 21-13 before 4-0 run from the Gators put them within three points. However, the Beavers won four of the final five points to take set two 25-19.
Throughout the first 25 points of the third set, neither team was able to find an advantage. After a 2-0 run gave the beavers a 15-12 lead, the Gators called a timeout. Bluffton won the ensuing point but the Gators then rattled off a 9-1 to take a 21-17 lead. The lead was short lived as Bluffton quickly tied the game at 22. A kill from
Leah Franzluebbers gave the Gators a 23-22 lead. Her kill was followed up by a pair of Bluffton attack errors to give the set to the Gators 25-23.
After back-and-forth play to start the fourth set, the Beavers went on a 7-0 run to take control, 11-5. That lead proved to be too much for the Gators to overcome as the Beavers ended the set on a 9-0 run to take it 25-11.
Elizabeth Debich led the Gators offensively with 11 kills. Franzluebbers finished with eight while
Hannah Cubarney had five. Justin Kelly had 28 assists. Her and
Rachel Slotterback had a pair of aces apiece.
Terra Schall had 31 digs to lead both teams. Slotterback had 11 digs while Kelly had eight.
In game two, the Gators won a five set thriller against Trine University (23-25, 25-13, 28-26, 15-13).
Franzluebbers led the Gator attack with 17 kills. Cubarney was also in double digits with 10 kills. Debich finished with nine while
Alysha Crowther had eight. Kelly tallied 46 assists.
Kylee Karczewski was a force on serves, recording five aces.
Schall finished with 30 plus digs for the second time on the day as she totaled 34. Slotterbacl added 20 digs while Karczewski had 17. Rebecca Macquarrie, Raelyn Dorscheid and
Grace Lengauer had 12 digs each. In addition to her offense, Franzluebbers had six total blocks (two solo, four assisted).
For her play over the weekend,
Kylee Karczewski earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
The Gators return home on Wednesday (Sept. 20) to take on Pitt- Bradford at 7 p.m.
