ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Elizabethtown outlasted McDaniel, 3-2, in a two-hour, twenty-two minute, five-set thriller and made quick work of Manhattanville, 3-0, to get back on the winning track Saturday at Thompson Gymnasium.

ELIZABETHTOWN 3, McDANIEL 2
16-25, 25-23, 24-26, 29-27, 17-15

Not only did the Blue Jays' match with McDaniel go the distance, each of the final three sets needed extra points to be decided. The Green Terror fought off match point three times in the fifth set, but consecutive kills from senior outside hitter Sarah Schneider (both assisted by Rileigh Hudock) lifted Elizabethtown to a 17-15 victory in a crazy match from start-to-finish.

Playing just its second fifth-setter of the season, Elizabethtown unsurprisingly set season-highs in kills (56), attacking attempts (190), assists (53) and digs (86).

Mackenzie Garner hit a scorching .441 to lead all Blue Jays and finished with a team-high 18 kills. Schneider had 16 kills and 17 digs, Aiyana Tietze-Di Toro posted a match-high 27 digs, and Hudock had 45 assists and 17 digs.

The Blue Jays (15-13) needed some late-set heroics in the fourth just to play on. A kill from Schneider and three by freshman Kelli Garriott pushed E-town to five straight points and a 20-16 lead in a set that was tight all the way. Just when it looked like the hosts had seized control, McDaniel (14-5) answered with five unanswered to go back in front.

The Green Terror had four match points, but the Blue Jays kept finding ways to stay alive. With the score 24-23 in favor of the guests, Garner dropped in a kill. Junior Elle Shatto did the same with the Jays trailing 25-24 and McDaniel helped the cause with a service error while leading 26-25.

Elizabethtown's first match point came on the heels of a Schneider kill that made it 27-26, but Marlowe Embry produced one of her match-high 23 kills to even the score for McDaniel. Schneider and Garriott would fashion back-to-back kills to claim the set for E-town, 29-27.

Garriott collected seven kills and three blocks, while fellow freshman Marlee Dzergoski had five kills and three blocks. Shatto added nine kills and Shelly Yohe was the fourth Blue Jays with double-digit digs, finishing with 10.

Embry (23 kills, 11 digs), Gayle Edelstein (32 assists, 10 digs) and Allie Lugar (12 kills, 10 digs) had double-doubles for McDaniel, while Taylor Bauman provided 21 digs.

ELIZABETHTOWN 3, MANHATTANVILLE 0
25-14, 25-12, 25-15

Elizabethtown rolled to its 16th win of the season, sweeping Manhattanville behind an impressive offensive effort. The Blue Jays hit .337 --their third highest percentage of the season-- with 42 kills and also tallied seven aces.

Garner once again showed the way with 15 kills and a .560 hitting percentage (15-1-25), moving past 300 kills on the season (310) in the process. Schneider continued her hot play with 13 kills, a .423 hitting percentage and 10 digs. Hudock also furnished a double-double with 34 assists and 14 digs.

Fast starts were a hallmark of the Blue Jays' victory over the Valiants (7-9). Garner had five kills and Schneider three as E-town built a 13-2 lead in the first set. The Blue and Gray would better than with a 17-3 spurt to start the second and also claimed a sizable lead in the third.

While Garner and Schneider did a bulk of the work on offense, Elle Shatto also chipped in with six kills (hitting .385) and Marlee Dzergoski had four (hitting .571). Garner was a menace defensively with two solo blocks and three assists. Kelli Garriott had three block assists and Dzergoski two.

Manhattanville was limited to .091 hitting (29 kills-19 errors-110 attempts) and only Laura LiVolsi reached double figures in kills (11) for the Valiants. Libero Monica Lopez had 17 digs in defeat.

UP NEXT
Nationally-ranked Juniata visits Thompson Gymnasium on Tuesday evening. The Landmark Conference match is scheduled to start at 7.