Moravian Box Score | Viginia Wesleyan Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Trailing 15-14 in the fifth and final game of its match with Virginia Wesleyan College, the Gettysburg College volleyball team found new life and hooked the Marlins for three consecutive points to close an impressive 3-2 (23-30, 30-23, 30-18, 21-30, 17-15) victory in its second match of the 18-team Gettysburg Battlefield Classic at the Bream-Wright-Hauser Athletic Complex on Friday, Sept. 7.

The Bullets, now 4-2 on the season, opened the day with an easy 3-0 victory over Moravian College (4-3). The opening contest barely lasted 20 minutes as the hosts cruised to a dominating 30-8 victory. Game two and three took a bit more time, but Gettysburg still emerged the winner by double figures in both, winning the second 30-15 and the third 30-25.

After watching Virginia Wesleyan (5-2) pull out a 3-0 (30-16, 31-29, 30-22) win over Moravian, the Bullets jumped back onto the court against the Marlins. The visitors kept the momentum through the first game, winning 30-23, but Gettysburg stormed back with 30-23 and 30-18 wins, committing just seven attack errors over the two games. The mistakes came more often in the fourth frame as Virginia Wesleyan capitalized on 12 Bullet hitting errors to win 30-21, setting up a decisive fifth game.

Gettysburg set the tone early, jumping out to an early 8-3 lead, but the Marlins mounted a comeback, eventually tying the game at 9-9. After battling back-and-forth, the Bullets came out with match point at 14-13, only to have victory stolen away by a reception error. Virginia Wesleyan had the hosts on the ropes by gaining another point and serving for the match, but Gettysburg shot back with big kills from freshman Kate Yoder (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) and senior Katie Heffner (Easton, Pa./Easton) to retake the advantage and pull away for the win.

Heffner provided a lot of big hits with a team-best 26 kills on the day, knocking down 13 in each match. Yoder finished with 21 put downs, including 15 against Virginia Wesleyan, while Molly Barrett (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) and Stephanie Rickabaugh (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) each tallied 17 over the two contests. Sophomore setter Amanda Krampf (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) paced the offense with 36 assists against Moravian and added another 46 helpers against the Marlins.

Defensively, Kristina Mercier (Baltimore, Md./Mount de Sales Academy) led the way with 43 digs, including a career high 27 in the first match. Krampf was close behind with 35 combined digs, while Kristin Kotewicz (Columbia, Md./River Hill) and Rickabaugh came up big in the match against Virginia Wesleyan, putting up 34 and 21 digs, respectively.

The Bullets and the rest of the field resume play on Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Battlefield Classic. Each team is re-pooled according to its day one results. Gettysburg draws Gallaudet University (3-3) at 10 a.m., followed by Scranton University (6-0) at 2 p.m. the Bison posted two hard-earned victories over Eastern University (27-30, 31-29, 31-29, 31-29) and Frostburg State University (30-18, 24-30, 30-19, 28-30, 15-8), while the Royals eased by both Washington (Md.) College (30-27, 30-26, 30-21) and Trinity (Conn.) College (30-26, 24-30, 30-25, 30-26).