WASHINGTON, Pa. --
Lizzie Carmichael (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming) recorded a career-high 17 kills and
Ashley Kovel (Everett, Pa./Everett) tallied a career-high 10 kills and six blocks to guide the Washington & Jefferson women's volleyball team to a five-set comeback victory over Bethany College Thursday evening in a Presidents' Athletic Conference match at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.
W&J 3, Bethany 2 (33-35, 21-25, 25-23, 29-27, 15-13)
The two teams played through a wild first set that went back and forth. Back-to-back kills by
Ashley Bertling (Berkeley, Mich./Berkeley) and Kovel helped W&J to a 13-8 lead. However, Bethany would counter with a 9-4 run to even the score at 17-17. W&J would tally the next three points and five of the next six to stake claim to a 22-18 edge. W&J would gain set point after a Kovel kill made it 24-21 Presidents. Back-to-back W&J miscues brought Bethany within one at 24-23. The Presidents thought they secured the opening set victory when Blough smashed a ball into the back left corner just in front of the linesman. While the play was initially ruled as a kill to give W&J the set. The call was overturned to flip the score back to even at 24-24. The teams exchanged points for the next several minutes before a kill by Blough evened the score at 33 all. The Bison finally broke through for the set win with a pair of points to take the set 35-33.
W&J tallied five of the first set points in the second set before taking a 9-5 lead on a kill by Bertling. Following a lengthy run that gave the Bison a 14-11 edge, the Presidents countered with six straight points to take a three-point lead at 17-14 on a kill by Carmichael. Back-to-back errors by Bethany gave W&J a 21-17 lead later in the set. However, the Bison found their stride and recorded the final eight points of the set to win by a 25-21 score.
The Presidents built an early lead again in the third set and made it stand up to force a fourth set. Back-to-back kills by Blough gave W&J a 7-1 edge. The Bison were able to battle back to build a 20-17 lead on a service ace. This time it was W&J that made a late set run. A pair of kills by Kovel and a back-to-back service aces by
Lanie French (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) gave W&J a 23-21 advantage. Kovel and Carmichael teamed up to finish off the set win with back-to-back kills to give W&J a 25-23 victory in the third.
In the fourth set, Bethany tallied eight of the first 11 points, which looked like could spell doom for W&J's comeback hopes. The Bison later held a decisive 19-10 lead as they appeared poised to earn the victory. However, the Presidents continued to battle and chip away at the deficit. After a kill by Kovel cut the deficit to four points, Bethany used a kill to take a 23-18 lead. Although forcing a fifth set seemed improbable, W&J registered four of the next five points, to climb within a single point at 23-22. After a service error by W&J gave Bethany a chance at set/match point, consecutive kills by Kovel and
Claire Sauerland (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) evened the score at 24-24. That is when Carmichael took over and willed her team to a fifth set. Carmichael tallied three consecutive kills before a successful attack by
Kaitlyn DeLauter (Marysville, Ohio/North Union) set W&J to a 29-27 set four victory.
The Presidents built another early lead with five of the first six points in the fifth set. Two more kills by Carmichael strengthened the lead to 8-4. The Bison would not go quietly, as the visitors tallied six consecutive points to even the set score at 11-11. A few points later, Blough accounted for the final two kills to finish off a 15-13 set victory to earn the win over Bethany, who entered the match in fourth place in the PAC.
Carmichael posted a career-high 17 kills. Blough finished with a season-high 14 kills of her own. Kovel recorded a career-high 10 kills and a match-high six blocks.
Alexis Tomassini (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) recorded a career-high 52 assists.
Defensively,
Sophia Sacriponte (Butler, Pa./Butler) led the team with 35 digs. Sacriponte now ranks second among PAC players with 5.98 digs per set in league matches. French and Sauerland each registered 14 digs for the Presidents.
The Presidents hit .348 with 10 kills and just two errors during the decisive fifth set. The Red and Black finished with a season-high 60 kills, nine total blocks and 116 digs as a team.
W&J will travel to Beaver Falls on Saturday October 23 for a rematch with the Golden Tornadoes. The two teams met this past Monday, which resulted in a 3-1 win for the GT's. First set is scheduled for 1 p.m.
