Box Score

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Gettysburg is moving on in the NCAA postseason thanks to its first successful rally from a 2-0 deficit in more than five years.

Senior Lauren Boyd (Millersville, MD/Severna Park) dished out a career-high 66 assists to lead the Bullets past Frostburg State 3-2 (27-30, 27-30, 30-14, 30-25, 15-13) in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday at Juniata.

Fifth-seeded Gettysburg will face No. 1 seed Juniata in the regional semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. No. 2 seed King's (Pa.) will face the winner of No. 3 Eastern and No. 6 Rowan in Friday's first semifinal match at 4:30 p.m.

The Bullets (24-13) hadn't won back-to-back five-set matches since early in the 2000 season and hadn't rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win since defeating Lock Haven 3-2 on Nov. 1, 1997. In addition, Gettysburg avenged a parallel 1999 loss to the Bobcats (25-10) that saw the Bullets win the first two set only to lose the match 3-2.

 In the decisive set of Thursday's match, Erin Barkdoll (Dover, PA/Dover) knocked down two kills to give Gettysburg a 9-8 lead before FSU tied the game at 11 thanks to a block by Lauren Petrick.

The Bullets regained the lead at 13-11 on a Frostburg service error and kill from Jessica Cortese (Lancaster, PA/Hempfield), who led the squad with 20 kills on the night.

Another kill by Cortese put Gettysburg within one point of the match, but the Bobcats would answer back with a Kelli Bumgarner kill. Nicole Barr (Annapolis, MD/Broadneck), however, collected her fifth kill of the game to seal the rally and send the Bullets to the regional semifinals.

Trailing 8-7 in the third set, the Bullets rattled off seven straight points on Michelle Dorsch's (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) serve to make it 13-8. Gettysburg extended its lead to 25-11 before a kill from Cortese sealed the win to keep the Bullets alive.

Down 2-1, Gettysburg used a 9-0 run to pull ahead in game four, 25-18. Frostburg took advantage of three Bullet errors cut the lead to 27-25, but three consecutive FSU errors sent the match to a fifth set.

The Bullets were on the verge of taking a 1-0 lead in the match, leading 25-22 after an Erica Rau (Oakland Park, FL/Pine Crest) kill. The Bobcats, however, used a 3-0 run to tie the game at 25, then won five of the last six points for a 1-0 lead. With game two tied at 26, FSU rattled off four of the final five points to take a two-game lead.

Barr tallied 15 kills and a team-high 16 digs for the match while Barkdoll added 17 kills and freshman Shannan Smith (Milmont Park, PA/Ridley) posted 12 digs.

NCAA Mid-Atlantic First Round
Gettysburg d. Frostburg State, 3-2 (27-30, 27-30, 30-14, 30-25, 15-13)

Gettysburg Leaders:
Kills: Jessica Cortese 20, Erin Barkdoll 17, Nicole Barr 17. Assists: Lauren Boyd 66.  Digs:  Barr 16, Shannan Smith 12.  Aces: Diana McNamee 3, Cortese 2, Dorsch. Blocks:  Jayme Massey 5, Barr 4.