Elizabethtown College’s women’s volleyball team closed out its Landmark Conference play at home in Thompson Gym on Friday, Oct. 14 with two losses to the University of Scranton and Moravian College.
The Blue Jays first match of the day was at 4 p.m. against Scranton. Etown came out strong, leading the first set by six points, until Scranton came back to take the set 25-23.
Sophomore Sarah Schneider led the Blue Jays with 11 kills and 14 digs in the match. Schneider also earned her fifth double-double of year with five kills in the third set. Following Schneider was first-year Elle Shatto with six kills and sophomore Anna Simpson with five kills.
Sophomore Mackenzie Garner came into the match hitting .385, a conference best. The visitors knew she was the player to watch and managed to hold her to five kills and six errors in the match.
After a close first set, the Blue Jays were unable to keep up during the last two, falling to the Royals 25-18 and 25-27.
Etown’s second match of the day and final Landmark Conference game of the season was at 8 p.m. against Moravian College. The Blue Jays fought hard, but the Greyhounds came out on top with a final score of 3-1.
Simpson came out strong with four kills in the first set, but it was not enough to hold off the visitors. Moravian took the first set by a narrow margin, 25-23, and the second 25-14. After a tough second set, the Blue Jays bounced back. Simpson was still leading the way with six kills on seven attempts for the match. This allowed the team to hang on for a fourth set after winning the third 25-19 over the Greyhounds.
After playing strong for the first three sets, the Blue Jays were not able to hold on in the fourth, resulting in a 24-12 Moravian victory.
Despite a disappointing finish for Etown’s Landmark Conference play, the Blue Jays fought hard and had impressive individual stats.
Simpson led the match and surpassed the 10 kill mark for the first time in her career in this game, finishing with 14 kills and nine digs. Simpson also had two block assists and came close to a double-double.
Following Simpson was Garner and Schneider, each with nine kills, and junior Emily Sexton with six kills. Garner also had three blocks, and junior Morgan Reiss served five aces and had five digs and a block. Junior Chelsea Gallagher earned 37 assists, her first time setting this for the Blue Jays this year.
With these two losses, Etown finished out their Landmark Conference play 0-6, officially out of consideration for Landmark Championships.
The Blue Jays were hoping to bounce back against Division II Millersville University at Thompson Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Etown entered the game with a 6-16 overall record.
Millersville controlled the match from the get-go and rolled to a three set sweep of Etown. In set one, the Marauders took down the Blue Jays, 25-16. In set two, Etown kept it close but ultimately fell 25-20. In the third set, Millersville completed the sweep by defeating the Blue Jays 25-18.
Schneider had 13 kills for Etown in the loss. Sophomore Brooke Daugherty had 22 assists. Simpson contributed seven kills and nine digs for the Blue Jays as well.
Etown will compete in the Carnegie Mellon Mini Invitational this upcoming weekend at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Blue Jays will open up the tournament against old rival Messiah College. Etown was swept in three sets by Messiah on Sept. 17 as part of the Days Inn Blue Jay Classic.
The Blue Jays will also have the opportunity to square off against Rochester Insititute of Technology on Friday evening. Etown will face Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve University on Saturday to complete the invitational.
After the Blue Jays return from this weekend, they will close out the season with two non-league games against Dickinson College and Alvernia University.
