By Chrissy Seagrest
Elm Staff Writer
Starting the season off strong, the women’s volleyball team was 8-0 going into Saturday’s matches against the Rosemont Ravens and the undefeated Gettysburg Bullets. The team split the tournament, improving to 9-1 on the season. After a tough loss from Gettysburg, the Shorewomen were able to come back and sweep Rosemont, going 3-0 in that match.
Going into the first match, the Shorewomen had the best record in school history since 1978, with 8-0 on the season so far. They’re second in the Centennial Conference, only behind Gettysburg, who was 10-0. The match of the two undefeated teams was a highly anticipated one.
The first set started close, with the Bullets only leading 8-7, but slowly they took that lead to 16-10. The Shorewomen fought hard but Gettysburg ultimately won 25-17.
The second set began neck and neck; the two teams tied all the way up to 9 a piece. The Bullets harvested some momentum after a kill to push the score to 17-11. The Shorewomen were quick to come back, making it 24-23. Cutting their lead off to just one was sophomore Cassie Kowalski, who pounded the point for the Shorewomen. The Bullets took advantage of an attack error by the Shorewomen to end the match 25-23.
The third and final match started off tied once again until at 6-6 the Bullets took a 4-1 run which continured until they were leading 20-12. They again finished the match by exploiting the Shorewomen on an attack mistake.
During the match against the Bullets, junior Kaitlyn Marino led the team with 14 kills while senior Alania Geissberger had three blocks for the Shorewomen.
When the Shorewomen took on the Ravens, it was a much different story. When the Shorewomen and the Ravens started the first set, they were tied 7-7. Washington College went on a 18-7 breakaway, with the set ending on an ace from freshman Laura Cochrane.
The second set began with a 4-0 lead from sophomore Olivia Portera’s dual aces. The Shorewomen jumped to a lead before the Ravens came back with 10 points. The team answered with a run of 9-1 to finish the set 25-16.
With the third and final set underway, the Shorewomen jumped to an early lead and stayed there. They lead 18-3, and with the final point close. Cochrane closed it out with an ace to win 25-12.
Standout freshman Kylie Peets led the team against the Ravens with five kills and two blocks, while freshman Abby Hilty led the team with seven digs.