By Chrissy Segrest
Elm Staff Writer
Washington College’s volleyball team is working hard to secure a place in post season for the first time in school history. This past week was jam-packed for them, with four matches in five days.
The volleyball tour started on Tuesday, Sept. 18, against St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
The Shorewomen lost the first set by a narrow margin of 25-22. They rallied back after a slow start to the second set, going on a 15-8 run to win on a kill from senior Kaitlyn Marino. The third set was fought hard, as they lost by a mere two points, 26-24. The fourth and final set was lost on a 25-19 kill from St. Mary’s.
During the match, sophomore Isabella Sansanelli had 10 kills and a match high of seven blocks, while freshman Jensyn Hartzell had 12 assists and 10 digs for her first career double-double.
“Jensyn’s an extremely hardworking and reliable player,” sophomore Abby Hilty said. “She has a great presence on the court day in and day out, and we’re happy to have her.”
The very next day, WC had their conference home opener against Bryn Mawr College. The team used the loss from the day prior to fuel their way to a shutout of the Owls, bringing their conference record back to 0.500.
In the first set, WC was down 16-14, but junior Cassie Kowalski was able to rally the team up to 23-18 with her kill. Then, to close out the set, sophomore Abby Smith had a kill of her own for the 25-21 win. The second set started with a Shorewomen 17-9 lead, which the Owls then ran a 15-5 run of their own. WC then took the final four points to win the set by two at 26-24.
The Shorewomen came out for a victory, never trailing in the third set. Sansanelli put WC on the board with a kill and the Smith closed out the set with a kill of her own. Marino had 10 digs on the day, and sophomore Maggie Pietrucha had four aces on the match. The team had 13 aces on the contest, a season high.
“This is a huge win for us,” sophomore Maria Summerville said. “We’re playing how we are capable of playing and I think it’s showing. We can use this to propel ourselves into the rest of the season.”
Having two days off for practice and rest, the Shorewomen were back out on the court on Saturday, Sept. 22.
While at Maryland rival Stevenson University, WC took on both the Lycoming College Warriors and the Stevenson Mustangs in a single day tournament.
Coming off the momentum of a win, the Shorewomen won the first set 25-17 while never trailing at any point in the set. The second set had much more back and forth. WC started with a 7-6 lead before the Warriors went on to score the next three points. Later in the set, Kowalski earned the go-ahead point on a kill to make it 24-23, but Lycoming scored the last three points of the set for the 26-24 win.
Coming back with vengeance, a 4-4 tie turned into a 10-6 lead. That lead then turned into a nine-point advantage, winning the set 25-14. The third set was WC’s best of the day, keeping the Warriors from only scoring six points in the 25-6 victory. Freshman Jenna Daunoras became the second Shorewoman to notch10 blocks in a match this season.
WC was hoping to come in with the same kind of force they did in the Lycoming match, but sadly the Mustangs were ready for them. In all three sets, Stevenson never trailed, winning 25-19, 25-15, and 25-14.
The Shorewomen’s next home match will be on Saturday, Sept. 29, against conference opponent McDaniel College at 1 p.m.