ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa.--The Elizabethtown men's volleyball team fell, 3-0 to No.2 Southern Virginia and 3-1 to No.16 Misericordia, Saturday. Freshman,
Braydon Ambruster had a career day for the Blue Jays.
GAME 1: ELIZABETHTOWN 0, SOUTHERN VIRGINIA 3 (16-25, 20-25, 25-27)
Ambruster led the match with 14 kills (.478), five assists, seven digs, and six total blocks.
Patrick Neyer totaled 17 kills and four digs.
Craig Patrick and
Josh McCoy also recorded four block assists.
The first set saw Southern Virginia jump to a 6-2 lead before Elizabethtown rattled off five straight to take a one-point lead. The Knights then pulled out to a 16-11 lead after some Blue Jay errors. Ambruster and
Arun Gopinath put down kills to bring the score to 18-14 with the Jays still trailing. SVU gained momentum back to win, 25-16.
Set two started off with the two teams trading points before the Knights tallied four in a row to take a 10-7 lead. After some more back and forth, Ambruster and
Logan Smith recorded kills. Going on a 5-1 run, SVU gained a 22-15 lead. Two Ambruster kills sandwiched a Knight error as Etown grabbed their 20
th point, but it wasn't enough as SVU won, 25-20.
Elizabethtown started off with a 13-11 lead in set three as the two teams went back-n-forth to start. Patrick and
Mason Boyer kills sandwiched an McCoy and Smith block to hold the Jays lead at 18-15. Two Southern Virginia errors brought Etown to 20-18. Forcing extra points, Elizabethtown would go one to ultimately fall, 27-25.
GAME 2: ELIZABETHOWN 1, MISERICORDIA 3 (18-25, 20-25, 30-28, 18-25)
Ambruster again led the match with a career-high 23 kills (.444) and 18 assists for his first career double-double. Neyer grabbed a career-high 29 assists.
Dustin Hagin totaled 14 digs and three assists. Smith totaled 14 kills (.310).
Misericordia started off with a substantial 15-6 lead after tallying seven points in a row. Several kills by Ambruster and Smith left the Jays trailing 21-14. Etown errors helped the Cougars as they won set one, 25-18. Set two began tighter with Elizabethtown coming out to a 9-6 lead. Kills from Gopinath, Ambruster, and Boyer held Etown's lead just by one point at 15-14. After recording four in a row for the Cougars it was all Misericordia at the end as they won, 25-20.
Set three was very back and forth for a majority through the set. Smith, Patrick, and Boyer kills gave Etown a 22-21 lead. Two Cougar errors gave the Blue Jays set point but the two teams weren't done yet. After trading several points, Elizabethtown came out with the 30-28 win as Ambruster led with three of the final four points.
Misericordia grabbed a 9-5 lead to start the fourth set. After leading 13-7 the two teams traded points until the Cougars were leading, 21-12. A block by Patrick and Ambruster earned Etown their final point, but it wasn't enough as Misericordia won, 25-18.
Elizabethtown is back in CVC on Tuesday, March 18 as they travel to Marymount (Va.).
