GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg clinched the final spot in the Centennial Conference playoffs with a thrilling 3-2 victory over visiting McDaniel College inside Bream Gym on Saturday afternoon.
 
The victory propelled Gettysburg (14-15, 6-4 CC) into a tie with Haverford College (21-7, 6-4 CC) for fifth in the conference standings. The Bullets hold the tiebreaker over the Fords thanks to a 3-1 victory on Sept. 28. The Orange and Blue will face Johns Hopkins University (11-12, 7-3 CC) in the opening round of the conference playoffs on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at a time to be determined.
 
McDaniel (19-6, 7-3 CC) locked up the third seed for the conference tournament despite the loss. Gettysburg won Saturday's contest by scores of 25-17, 19-25, 25-16, 16-25, and 15-11.
 
The Bullets came out hot in the opening set, pounding down 15 kills and leading by as many as six points (14-8) in the frame. The Green Terror came right back to tie the contest in set two, tallying 11 of the final 15 points.
 
Gettysburg's attack peaked in the third set with 17 kills on 31 attempts with just three errors (.452 hitting percentage). Seven of the team's final eight points came via a kill with senior Courtney Cyr (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) putting the ball to the floor on the final point.
 
McDaniel responded with its best hitting performance in the fourth set with 15 kills to tie the contest at two wins apiece. The Green Terror took an early 3-1 lead in the decisive fifth set before Gettysburg came alive with a 6-1 run to grab the advantage for good. Sophomore Courtney Morrow (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields) polished off the victory with a kill following an overpass by the visitors.
 
Four players reached double-figure kills for the Bullets. Freshman Laura Bergin (Charlottesville, Va./Western Albemarle) led the way with a career-high 16 kills. She also chipped in with a dozen digs. Morrow posted 13 kills and five blocks, while Cyr and senior Sarah Gorski (Darien, Conn./Darien) each tallied 11 kills. Gorski added three blocks to become just the seventh Bullet to register 300 total blocks (301).
 
Sophomore Hannah Bentz (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) paced the defense with 15 kills and served up four aces. Sophomore Alesha Miller (Hanover, Pa./New Oxford) finished with 13 digs.
 
Senior Lizzy Kuhn (Wilmington, Del./Archmere Academy) finished three assists shy of a personal best with 47 on the afternoon. Kuhn added three aces and nine digs.
 
Kloe Martin led McDaniel with 21 kills and Madeline Rose added 11. Colette Kellen posted 20 assists and 12 digs for the Green Terror.