THE FACTS
Gettysburg (3-0) 3, Wisc.-Eau Claire (1-2) 2
Gettysburg (4-0) 3, Susquehanna (2-2) 0
What: Non-conference volleyball action
When: Saturday, Aug. 31
Where: Gettysburg, Pa.

THE SKINNY STORY
After dropping the first two sets of the morning on day two of the Battlefield Classic, Gettysburg won five straight sets to go 2-0 on the day and wrap up a perfect weekend to kick off the 2024 season. The Bullets found themselves in a 2-0 hole to Wisc.-Eau Claire before winning the final three sets for their second 3-2 win of the weekend. Gettysburg then bookended the weekend with another 3-0 victory, taking down Susquehanna.

THE LEADERS
• Catherine Holtz (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) led the Bullets offensively in the opening match of the day with 11 kills and hit .273. She also had three blocks.
• Mary Huegel (Marlboro, N.J./Colts Neck) did the work defensively in the opening match with seven total blocks, including two solo stuffs. She also had five kills.
• In the finale, Huegel joined Alycen Radolovic (Willoughby, Ohio/Beaumont School) with 10 kills each. Huegel had her performance without an error, hitting .625 for the match to go with another seven total blocks.

FOR THE FOES
• Bailey Leeke led the Blugolds with 25 kills and 10 digs.
• Emily Kowalski and Kyndall Mason paced the River Hawks in the finale with eight kills each. Jessica Sack had 15 digs.

THE REST OF THE STORY
• Five straight points helped Wisc.-Eau Claire open up a 16-7 lead in the first set. Gettysburg pulled within six on five different occasions after that but the Blugolds finished off a 25-18 win with a Bailey Leeke kill.
• Three Leeke knockdowns staked Eau-Claire to a 4-0 lead in the second set and the Bullets got no closer the rest of the way, falling 25-11 to go down 2-0 in the match.
• An Ava Grall (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra) kill got Gettysburg off to a 1-0 lead in the third set before she had an ace for a 4-2 advantage and – after three more ties – the Bullets didn't trail the rest of the way. Clinging to an 11-10 edge, a 9-0 run that included four blocks that all included Mary Huegel, opening up a 20-10 lead en route to a 25-17 victory.
• The Blugolds responded out of the gate in the fourth set with the first four points. Gettysburg eventually drew back even at 6-all in the midst of five straight points. Two Alycen Radolovic kills after it was tied helped the hosts take a 9-6 advantage. The lead swelled as large as 17-11 before the Bullets reached set point at 24-18. Eau Claire staved off the end of the set four times to close within 24-22 but Grall and Huegel combined on a block to set it to a deciding set.
• Trailing 2-0 early in the fifth, a service error gave Gettysburg the serve. A Radolovic kill and Huegel-Radolovic block helped the Bullets take a 4-2 edge. The Blugolds countered with three straight of their own to go back in front, 5-4. The teams traded points until a Grall kill sparked a 4-0 run that turned a 9-7 deficit into an 11-9 edge for Gettysburg. Kierra Fox (Phoenix, Ariz./Rancho Solano Preparatory School) had an ace on the other end of the stretch. Clinging to a 13-12 lead, Catherine Holtz put down her 11th kill of the match and Gianna Galli (Demarest, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) went up with her for the team's ninth block and a 15-12 victory.
• In the match against Susquehanna, Gettysburg ran out to a 3-0 lead with two of those points coming on quick sets to Huegel in the middle. Susquehanna didn't let the Bullets wander too far away, keeping the score within a few points and eventually closing to 15-13 following an attack error by the hosts. Four quick points, including an ace by freshman Nala Shearer (Lexington, Va./Rockbridge) propelled Gettysburg to a six-point advantage (19-13) and the River Hawks would get no closer than five for the remainder of the opening set, which finished with a 25-17 score.
• Despite the final margin in the second set, it was Susquehanna which jumped out early, tallying the first three points. A pair of aces by sophomore Halle Feth (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County) fueled a six-point run to push the lead to 10-6 and the Bullets never looked back, quickly building the margin to 10 (18-8) on a kill by Grall. The Bullets rattled off five of the final six tallies capped by another ace by Feth to claim the second set, 25-12.
• The third set was a back-and-forth affair which saw Susquehanna take an 11-7 lead. The Bullets steadily chipped away and a 5-0 run capped by an emphatic denial on the outside by Huegel and Holtz to put the advantage at 14-12. The River Hawks regained the upperhand late in the match at 21-20 on a kill by Emily Kowalski before a quick three-point run by the hosts, punctuated by another block by Holtz and Huegel. Gettysburg remained in front the rest of the way with Radolovic capping a 4-0 weekend with a kill for the final point and 25-23 win.

THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg went 4-0 at its own Battlefield Classic for the third time in the last four seasons.
• Kierra Fox had 17 digs in the three-setter against Susquehanna, giving the rookie 61 on the weekend.
• The Bullets' Mary Huegel and Kierra Fox were part of the 12-member all-tournament team. The rest of the all-tournament team included: Logan Martin (Eastern), Bridget Kelly (Eastern), Reagan Stoop (Bridgewater), Avery Butcher (Dickinson), Lia Perez (Franklin & Marshall), Ella Gamble (Gallaudet), Caitlin Lielbriedis (Messiah), Sydney Bassett (Southern Virginia), Kyndall Mason (Susquehanna), Jennifer Taylor (York)

NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action at home against Stevenson on Wednesday. Match time is 7 p.m.
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