GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a decisive fifth set, but Swarthmore College came out on top in one of the best showdowns in an individual set in the Centennial Conference this season.
 
Swarthmore (13-6, 6-2 CC) managed to hang on for a 3-2 victory after winning the first two sets 29-27 and 25-17. Gettysburg (16-6, 4-4 CC) took the next two 25-16 and 25-15, but the Garnet survived a back-and-forth battle for a 20-18 decision in the fifth frame.
 
The teams appeared to put everything on the line with an incredible opening set which featured 15 ties and 11 lead changes. The Garnet tried to take control with a 7-1 run for a 21-16 lead, but the Bullets came right back to tie things up at 23-all. Each team was on the cusp of claiming the set, but in the end it was Swarthmore that took advantage and closed with points on a service error and a kill by Josie Thrasher on an overpass.
 
The visitors controlled the second set, but Gettysburg was far from finished. Sophomore Allie Stranick (Havertown, Pa./Merion Mercy) and juniors Francesca Garison (Metuchen, N.J./John F. Kennedy Memorial) and Kasey Higgins (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) combined for 15 of the team's 17 kills in the runaway win. The Bullets rolled to a double-figure victory in the fourth set to tie the match.
 
In the fifth set, Swarthmore broke loose for the first three points. Gettysburg stormed back to take a 6-5 lead on a kill by Higgins and the war of attrition was on in full. Neither team would lead by more than two points for the remainder of the match. Each time it appeared one side would gain the advantage, the other would answer in kind with an acrobatic dig and big play at the net. Following the 14th tie of the set at 18-18, the Garnet finally solved the puzzle and picked up kills from Isabelle Andrews and Mehra den Braven to close out the victory.
 
Stars abounded for both sides in the contest. Junior Caroline Sequeira (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills) posted 10 digs in the final set and finished with a match-high 34, marking her seventh consecutive outing of 20 or more digs. Stranick posted her 11th double-double of the season with 17 kills and 18 digs, while Higgins tallied 15 kills. Garison posted 13 kills. B.N. and freshman Sarah Ellis (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) combined for 55 assists and 18 digs.
 
den Braven finished with a big night for Swarthmore, recording a  match-high 22 kills to go with 24 digs. Emma Morgan-Bennett logged 15 kills and five blocks and Andrews tallied 10 kills. Alyssa Nathan dished out 52 assists and put up 19 digs. Sarah Girard paced the Garnet defense with 29 digs.
 
Gettysburg visits Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m.