Box Score

Alvernia ALV 9-18

Elizabethtown ETOWN 7-22

Alvernia ALV

9-18

Final

Oct. 29, 2016

Elizabethtown ETOWN

7-22

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Alvernia ALV	25	17	16	23	(1)
Elizabethtown ETOWN	10	25	25	25	(3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 10/29/2016 4:30:00 PM

Volleyball rallies to take finale over Alvernia

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Elizabethtown rode into the offseason on a high note, rallying from a set down to beat Alvernia, 3-1, in its 2016 finale Saturday at Thompson Gymnasium.

It was an inauspicious start for the Blue Jays, who watched Alvernia compile 11 kills and a pair of aces in a dominating 25-10 first set victory.

E-town (7-22) stayed the course, however, and proved to be the better team in sets two and three, capturing them by scores of 25-17 and 25-16.

Mackenzie Garner's four kills in the second set helped the Blue Jays recover from their slow start. Sarah Schneider and Elle Shatto each chipped in three kills, along with two aces from Katie Kennedy and 11 of Gabby Anders' match-high 32 assists.

Though the Blue and Gray took the second set by eight points, the result was still in peril late. It wasn't until a 4-0 run that included kills from Garner and Shatto and a Chelsea Gallagher ace made it 23-15 that E-town could afford to breathe.

The third set followed much of the same script, but Elizabethtown powered ahead by ending the set on an 11-2 run. Shatto had two of her team-high 11 kills in the decisive run, while Anna Simpson contributed two aces and a kill.

Alvernia's top two hitters Saturday, Kristen Sipling and Emily Smith, refused to let their team go quietly. Both players had four kills in the fourth as the Crusaders (9-18) did everything they could to stay alive.

It wasn't quite enough, though. Despite having a 23-22 lead, the visitors were unable to hold off the Blue Jays. Schneider, Simpson and Shatto connected for successive kills to punctuate E-town's seventh win of the season, which also came on Dig Pink/Digs for Debi Day at Thompson Gym.

The event, held annually by the Jays, honored the memory of former assistant coach Debi Murray, who passed away Oct. 1, after multiple battles with breast cancer. Proceeds from Saturday's event, which totaled an estimated $700, will go to the METAvivor Research and Support organization, a non-profit dedicated to increasing awareness of advanced breast cancer and equity in research and patient support.

Kennedy, Schneider, Shatto and Simpson each had two of Elizabethtown's 10 aces in the match. Shatto was the only Blue Jay with double-digit kills, though Garner and Schneider nearly joined her with nine apiece.

Gallagher had 18 digs and Garner five blocks (one solo, four assists).

Alvernia got 14 kills and nine digs from Sipling, with Smith going for a double-double of 13 kills and 13 digs. Smith also came up with a match-high four aces.

Elizabethtown, which did not feature a senior player for the first time since 2008, will now turn its focus towards the 2017 season.

Print Friendly Version