THE FACTS
Cortland (7-4) 3, Gettysburg (6-5) 1
Gettysburg (7-5) 3, Messiah (6-5) 1
What: Non-conference volleyball matches
When: Saturday, Sept. 20
Where: Grantham, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
Gettysburg split a pair of 3-1 matches to finish the second day of the Messiah Invitational, falling to Cortland before defeating the host Falcons.
THE LEADERS
•
Clare Farrell (Livingston, N.J./Academy of St. Elizabeth) led the Bullets against Cortland with 11 kills and seven digs.
•
Alycen Radolovic (Willoughby, Ohio/Beaumont School) led the way against Messiah with 15 kills and eight digs.
FOR THE FOES
• Kira Pirrera led the Red Dragons with 22 kills against just nine errors on 64 attempts while adding four blocks.
• Katie Quesenberry paced the Falcons with 10 kills.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Cortland jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set before three
Alycen Radolovic and two
Gianna Galli (Demarest, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) kills led a 7-0 counter for an 8-6 edge. Trailing 15-14, a block from Kira Pirrera and Lauren Millspaugh sparked a late run of seven straight points to open up a 21-15 lead en route to a 25-19 victory.
• Erica Arroyo knocked down the first two kills of the second set and the Red Dragons scored the first four points. Trailing 15-11, a pair of
Mary Huegel (Marlboro, N.J./Colts Neck) knockdowns and two
Kendall Erpenbeck (San Jose, Calif./Prospect) aces helped the Bullets put together a 10-1 run for a 21-17 lead en route to a 25-22 win to tie the match at 1-all.
• After a back-and-forth start to the third set, three straight Gettysburg errors gave Cortland a 7-3 lead that the Red Dragons did not relinquish in a 25-20 victory.
• The fourth set featured 12 ties and four lead changes. Tied for the final time at 18-all, Emalee Ballou had a kill to give Cortland the lead. Three more knockdowns by her down the stretch keyed a 25-21 win.
• Against Messiah, the teams traded points early. Back-to-back
Erin Gonzalez (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) kills capped a 5-0 stretch that gave Gettysburg an 11-6 lead and Messiah got no closer than four the rest of the way in a 25-15 Bullets victory.
• There were four early ties in the second set but Gettysburg took a 6-5 edge and slowly built an advantage to win the set, 25-18.
• The third set was a mirror image of the previous set with four early ties before Messiah took a 15-14 lead and built on that for a 25-21 win to force a fourth set.
• An
Ellen Manke (Madison, N.J./Morristown Beard School) and Gonzalez ace tied the fourth set at 2-all early. After the Falcons took a 3-2 edge,
Clare Farrell knocked down a kill to tie the set and then a
Kierra Fox (Phoenix, Ariz./Rancho Solano Prep School) ace and Huegel kill gave Gettysburg the lead for good, propelling the Bullets to a 25-15 win.
THE INSIDE STORY
•
Nala Shearer (Lexington, Va./Rockbridge County) led the defense against Cortland with 22 digs while
Kendall Erpenbeck added 12 to go with her 20 assists and three aces.
•
Mary Huegel chipped in nine kills and four blocks in the first match.
•
Kierra Fox led the defense against Messiah with 14 digs.
• Erin Gonzlez added 11 kills and career-high six aces to go with nine digs – one of seven Bullets with six or more digs.
NEXT UP
The Bullets return to action at Catholic on Wednesday. Match time is 7 p.m.
