THE FACTS
No. 25 Gettysburg (24-5) 3, Manhattanville (20-10) 0
What: NCAA Div. III volleyball championship first round
When: Thursday, Nov. 21
Where: Huntingdon, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
Gettysburg scored five of the final six points to secure a 3-0 win over Manhattanville in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Div. III volleyball championship tournament hosted by Juniata.
THE LEADERS
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Catherine Holtz (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) led a balanced attack for the Bullets with eight kills and just one error on 12 swings. She also had four blocks and four digs.
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Erin Gonzalez (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) also had eight kills and just one error on 11 attempts to go with six digs.
FOR THE FOES
• Loren Hernandez led the Valiants with seven kills and four digs.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Manhattanville jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a Loren Hernandez kill and Samantha Andriola ace before Gettysburg countered with four straight points keyed by an
Erin Gonzalez ace. Aces from
Mary Huegel (Marlboro, N.J./Colts Neck) and Helle Feth (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County) highlighted another 4-1 run that helped open up an 8-4 lead. The lead grew to 12-6 to force a Valiants' timeout. Three straight
Catherine Holtz kills and a knockdown on an overpass from Huegel extended the lead to 17-8. Manhattanville closed to within 19-11 but an
Alycen Radolovic (Willoughby, Ohio/Beaumont School) kill sparked a 5-0 run to reach set point. Emily Brown staved off set point once but a service error gave the Bullets a 25-12 win in the opening set.
• Two Holtz kills and three straight from Radolovic helped Gettysburg jump out to an 7-2 lead in the second set. Back-to-back kills that included Huegel – one with Holtz on the right side then with Radolovic on the left side – stretched the lead to 15-9 and forced a timeout. The Valiants closed to within 16-11 on an ace but a pair of blocks ignited another 6-1 run for a double-digit advantage.
Sophie Nasir (Covina, Calif./St. Lucy's Priory) then put down a kill to finish off the 25-14 win and put the Bullets up 2-0.
• Trailing 2-0 in the third set, Gonzalez served five points in a row. Another 7-2 run stretched the advantage to 13-6. Gonzalez and Nasir wrapped up a 7-2 finish to the set and secured the sweep with a 25-13 win.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg hit .435 in the match while holding Manhattanville to -0.011.
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Mary Huegel chipped in seven kills, three aces and three blocks while
Alycen Radolovic added seven kills, four digs and two blocks.
NEXT UP
The Bullets return to action against Middlebury, which defeated Salisbury 3-1 in the first round, in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Friday. Match time at Juniata is 4:30 p.m.
