ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Division II Millersville stole momentum at the last possible moment, using it to complete a 3-2 (25-13, 18-25, 19-25, 25-22, 16-14) come-from-behind victory over the Division III Blue Jays in non-conference action Wednesday evening at Thompson Gymnasium.
Elizabethtown (11-16) went up 13-10 in the fifth on a kill from
Megan McNaul, but the Marauders stormed back with the next three points to tie the set for the fourth time. Reigning Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week
Kelci Scannapieco followed with her 20th kill of the night –her fifth 20-plus kill match this season– to reclaim the lead for the Jays, 14-13.
An attack from Millersville's Stephanie Kovacs looked to sail long, giving the Blue Jays the victory, but
Brittianni Phillips was ruled in the net and the Marauders (10-14) had new life tied at 14. They took advantage, getting a kill from Mary Paul and an attacking error by the Blue Jays to squeak out a 16-14 win in the deciding set and complete the comeback.
The Marauders came out swinging in the opening set, scoring 14 points on kills, including five from team leader Erin Harman and four from Paul. The Blue Jays were stuck in a rut, meanwhile, committing seven errors against just three kills for a -.113 hitting percentage in a 25-13 loss.
E-town's front line came alive in the second, however, blasting 12 kills on 32 attempts for a .281 success rate in a 25-18 win. Scannapieco led the way with five kills, and McNaul had three to go along with two of her five aces. Scannapieco tacked on four more as the Blue Jays spread 12 kills amongst seven players in capturing the third set by a similarly impressive 25-19 count.
In a fourth set that belonged mostly to Millersville, the blue and gray rallied to take a brief lead at 16-15 on
Taylor Beck's kill off the assist of
Brynne Kirsch. The home team would come from three points down late to tie it at 22 when
Samantha Hicks and
Morgan Reiss stepped up to stuff an attack from Harman, but Paul killed twice around one from Stephanie Kovacs to close out the set 25-22 in favor of the Marauders.
Scannapieco continued her breakout season by collecting her 20 kills on just 44 attempts (.364). She was already hitting .312 coming into the match, but now ranks fourth in the Landmark with a .315 percentage. The middle hitter, who transfered from Juniata following her freshman season, has 920 kills in less than three full seasons in an E-town uniform and 940 for her career when combined with the 20 from her freshman campaign in Huntingdon.
High finished with her second straight double-double, putting up a team-high 23 assists and 12 digs.
Jen Cook led the team with 23 digs, while Beck and McNaul had 14 apiece.
McNaul was all over the court for the Blue Jays adding in eight kills and a match-high five aces.
Paul (13), Kayla Wallace (11) and Harman (10) led the Marauders' 58-kill attack. Libero Brooklyn Smith led all players with 35 digs, while Victoria Biggins had 45 assists, 16 digs and three aces for Millersville, which earned its fourth win against E-town in 11 all-time meetings.
The Blue Jays will face Haverford and Kean in a tri-match at Haverford beginning at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
