THE FACTS
SUNY Cortland (26-3), Gettysburg (23-6) 0
What: NCAA Division III Tournament first-round women's volleyball match
When: Thursday, Nov. 16
Where: Cambridge, Mass.
THE SKINNY STORY
Gettysburg played three competitive sets against SUNY Cortland but ultimately the Red Dragons were able to earn victories each to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament, knocking Gettysburg out of contention.
THE LEADERS
•
Kylie Ulrich (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) led the attack with eight kills. She also added three blocks.
•
Chelsea O'Leary (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and
Mary Huegel (Marlboro, N.J./Colts Neck) paced the defense with 14 digs and four blocks, respectively.
•
Sophie Nasir (Covina, Calif./St. Lucy's Priory) assisted 17 points and added two aces.
FOR THE FOES
• Anna Pilkey led the Red Dragons' offense with 14 kills.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• A string of seven Cortland kills in the first eight points put Gettysburg in a 7-1 hole at the beginning of the first set, but the Bullets used a 6-2 run containing two kills by both
Catherine Holtz (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) and
Kylie Ulrich to close the gap to just two points. The Bullets would come within two points again before Cortland killed the ball several times to lead 20-15. Gettysburg stayed in the set, with two Cortland attack errors putting them within three at 21-18, but Cortland used a 4-2 run to close out the first set, 25-20.
• In the second set the teams notched seven ties, the last at 8-all, before a Cortland 6-2 run put them ahead by four points.
Mary Huegel interrupted things briefly with a kill for the Bullets, but the Red Dragons responded by rattling off six straight points en route to a 20-11 lead. Gettysburg countered with six straight points of their own, including two
Erin Gonzalez (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) kills, to lessen the gap, 20-17, and the teams went almost point-for-point to a Cortland 23-21 score. Gettysburg earned one more point on a Huegel and Holtz block before Lexy Bloss ended the second set with a kill for Cortland.
• Cortland held a 4-1 lead early in the third set before Gettysburg fired off four straight points, including two
Sophie Nasir aces, to take the lead. The Bullets continued to widen the gap with a 5-0 run to take an 11-6 lead. Cortland stemmed the run with four consecutive points of their own to close within one, and after a Gonzalez kill they scored another five points straight to retake the lead, 15-12. Gettysburg used kills by three different hitters to tie the score 18-all, and the score would tie three more times, the latest at 21-all. From there, Cortland scored the final four points on two kills and two Bullets errors to win the NCAA tournament first round game, 3-0.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg made its 14th NCAA tournament appearance and first since 2005.
•
Catherine Holtz and
Erin Gonzalez each tallied six kills in the match.
• Senior libero
Chelsea O'Leary finished her collegiate career with 1,335 digs in just three years, slotting into 11th place on the program record board.
• The team's 23 wins during the season is the most wins for a Gettysburg team since head coach
Leah Bernier took over the program in 2010.
