ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Elizabethtown secured a pair of 3-1 victories over Misericordia and Eastern Mennonite on Friday night, starting the 2018 Blue Jay Classic exactly the way they wanted.

Mackenzie Garner had 22 kills on the night, including 16 against EMU, and Sarah Schneider had 20 kills between the two matches, including a kill-dig double-double in the Misericordia victory. With the victories, the Blue Jays extended their winning streak to a modest three matches.

ELIZABETHTOWN 3, MISERICORDIA 1
25-20, 25-16, 23-25, 25-13

The Blue Jays had their way with Misericordia in each of the first two sets before slipping up in the third. Order was quickly restored in the fourth, as E-town (4-6) took advantage of a negative .185 hitting percentage by the Cougars (7 kills-12 errors-27 attempts) to put the match away.

Sarah Schneider topped 10 kills for the third time this season with a team-high 12 --one off her season-high. She shared the team lead with sophomore middle hitter Marisa Krinock in the first set and led all Blue Jays with four in the second. Krinock ended the match with nine kills, Elle Shatto had seven and Mackenzie Garner six.

Shatto's three aces in the first were a difference maker in what was otherwise an evenly contested set. The Cougars (7-3) actually attacked with slightly more efficiency than the Jays, .269 to .241, but the hosts held a 13-10 kill advantage and 13-8 edge in digs.

Three players finished with double-digit digs, led by libero Aiyana Tietze-Di Toro's 13. Freshman Allison Fischer added 12 and Schneider collected 11 for her first double-double of the season.

Garner guided Elizabethtown's effort on the defensive side of the net with a solo block and six block assists. Hudock helped on four blocks and the Blue Jays were credited with nine denials as a team.

Misericordia's offense was evenly split behind Amanda Curcio's team-high nine kills. Jessica Oltman, Sarah Pool, Jassmine Watson and Tara Welliver all had six kills for the visitors.

ELIZABETHTOWN 3, EASTERN MENNONITE 1
20-25, 25-16, 25-11, 25-22

Mackenzie Garner, who was held to six kills in the win over Misericordia, carried the offense with 16 kills and a .560 hitting percentage in a matching 3-1 triumph over Eastern Mennonite.

The Blue Jays were not their sharpest in the first set and it bit them in a 25-20 defeat. Luckily, E-town (5-6) asserted itself as the dominant team over the next two with 25-16 and 25-11 wins.

Garner was particularly strong in the second and fourth sets. The Huntingdon native had five kills on six attempts in the second and six on 11 in the deciding stanza. Marisa Krinock and Elle Shatto followed suit with both players locking down their second double-figure kill performances of the season. Krinock and Shatto finished with 10 kills apiece in the win over the Royals (2-6).

Rileigh Hudock's 36 assists tied a season-high and the Delawarian accounted for her second-highest dig total with 17. Three teammates joined Hudock with 10 digs or more. Aiyana Tietze-Di Toro totaled 15, Shelly Yohe 12 and Sarah Schneider 11.

Elizabethtown matched its season-high in service aces as a team, which it set just over an hour earlier against Misericordia. Factoring into the Jays' 13 aces were Hudock, Schneider and Katie Kennedy with three each, and Jenna Harne with two. Krinock and Shatto each registered a single ace.

UP NEXT
Elizabethtown faces Alfred (11 a.m.) and Rowan (3 p.m.) in Saturday matches at the Blue Jay Classic.