By Maegan White
Elm Staff Writer
The Shorewomen volleyball team suffered three Centennial Conference losses against Franklin and Marshall, Swarthmore College, and Gettysburg College, leaving the Shorewomen’s conference record of 3-3.
The Shorewomen hosted Franklin and Marshall Diplomats on Saturday, Oct. 8. The first 12 points of the game went back and forth between the Shorewomen and the Diplomats. Franklin and Marshall went on a streak and scored 10 of the next 11 points, taking the lead with a score of 19-9.
The Shorewomen responded to the Diplomats early, scoring nine of the next 11 points with service and kills from senior outside hitter Coutrney Maxwell and serving by sophomore setter Brooklyn Pugner. The Diplomats stopped the Shorewomen’s advance and ended up winning the set 25-19.
The second set was a close battle with the Shorewomen holding strong to their competitors with a score of 17-17. The Diplomats capitalized on an attack error from the Shorewomen and scored the next eight points of the set, winning 25-17.
In the third set of the match, the Diplomats took an early and clear lead. The Shorewomen, although rallying four points in a row, could not catch up to their Conference competitors and lost the final set 25-14.
The match against Swarthmore on Saturday, Oct. 11 was the closest battle for the Shorewomen. In the first set, the Shorewomen started out strong, scoring the first 6 points of the game. They continued their early lead with a score of 10-3.
Despite a few three run attacks by the Phoenixes, the Shorewomen were able to hold off their competitors, but they continued to cut away at the Shorewomen’s early lead. Two service aces from the Phoenixes tied the game 23-23.
The Shorewomen took the lead again on a service ace, but the Phoenixes responded with two kills and took the lead for the first time in the game 25-24. An area from Swarthmore tied the game again but the Shorewomen immediately had a service area resulting in the Phoenixes leading by one for set point. They secured a victory with an outside kill winning the game 27-25.
The first 26 points of the second set were back and forth between the Shorewomen and the Phoenixes with the Shorewomen trailing 14-11. However, Swarthmore would go on to score 12 of the next 15 points, winning the set 25-14.
In the third and final set of the match, the Phoenixes took the early lead against the Shorewomen with a score of 17-7. The Shorewomen rallied back, starting with two kills from Maxwell. The Shorewomen scored the next five points and continued to cut the early lead created by the Phoenixes.
After cutting the lead from 10 points to two points, the Phoenixes had three successful kills which the Shorewomen did not respond to. The third and final set ended in a Swarthmore victory with a score of 25-21.
The Shorewomen traveled to Gettysburg College on Saturday, Oct. 15 and lost in three sets.
In all three sets, the Shorewomen trailed behind the Bullets. The Shorewomen were unable to rally more than 3 points at a time and were not able to close the early lead that the Bullets set. The Shorewomen ended up losing 25-14 in the first and second set and 12-25 in the third and final set.
The Shorewomen play their next two Conference games away and will not return to the Penny Fall Gymnasium until Saturday, Oct. 29 against Dickinson University.
Photo by Katie Tack
Photo Caption: Shorewomen volleyball huddling before the start of their game.