Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College volleyball team earned its fourth conference win in as many tries the hard way as the Bullets fended off Swarthmore College in five sets Saturday afternoon inside Bream Gym.

Gettysburg (14-6, 4-0 CC) avenged a pair of defeats at the hands of Swarthmore (14-6, 2-3 CC) last fall, including a 3-0 setback in the Centennial Conference playoffs. The hosts won by scores of 21-25, 28-26, 25-20, 17-25, and 15-13. With the victory, the Bullets kept pace with Johns Hopkins University (14-4, 5-0 CC) at the top of the conference leader board.

The day did not start off on a high note for the hosts as Swarthmore established an early presence with a wire-to-wire win in the opening set. Gettysburg pulled to 21-20 on a kill by sophomore Courtney Cyr before the Garnet rattled off the final five points.

Set two was a dramatic back-and-forth battle as Gettysburg jumped out to the early lead only to see Swarthmore rebound to take a 21-17 advantage on a service ace by Genny Pezzola. The Garnet had the Bullets on the ropes with set point at 24-22, but the hosts held on to score the next three points thanks to a pair of kills by freshman Cydney Bracken.

Pezzola tied the contest at 26 with a kill before senior Katie McConville put down an attack to bring set point. Cyr put an emphatic stamp on the contest by stuffing Pezzola's next attack attempt.

Gettysburg carried the momentum into the third frame by jumping out to a 9-1 lead and building the advantage to 18-5. Swarthmore rebounded late to pull to a respectable five-point loss, and carried that surge into the fourth set. The visitors tied the match at two sets apiece with a 25-17 win in the fourth.

The decisive set was another pitted battle with senior Virginia Hogan kicking things off with a pair of kills as Gettysburg surged to a 4-0 lead. Swarthmore tied the contest at 6-6, before a 7-0 run by the Bullets put things seemingly out of reach. But if the previous sets were any indication, there was plenty of fight let in the Garnet as they bounced back to pull to 14-13 on a kill by Kat Montemurro.

McConville finally put the match to bed as her attack attempt from the right side hit the top of the net and caromed away from the block for the final point.

After knocking out 17 kills in a five-set win at Haverford College on Tuesday, Bracken turned in another strong showing with 18 kills against Swarthmore. Hogan posted 15 kills, five service aces, and a career-high 21 digs. Sophomore Sarah Gorski notched nine kills and four blocks and McConville posted seven kills and 20 digs. Cyr finished with eight total blocks for the Bullets.

Senior Rebecca Rubenstein led the defensive effort with 29 digs and also dished out five assists. Sophomores Lizzy Kuhn and Nicole Petrillo combined for 39 assists and senior Brooke Wano put up a personal best 13 digs.

Danielle Sullivan led Swarthmore with 12 kills and Pezzola added 11 kills and 12 digs. Allie Coleman dished out 39 assists and Hillary Santana recorded 23 digs.

Gettysburg returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 12, with a non-conference visit to Gallaudet University at 7 p.m.