First Round (at Franklin & Marshall):
Franklin & Marshall d. Swarthmore, 30-22, 29-31, 30-25, 28-30,
15-10.
Semifinal (at Johns Hopkins): Franklin & Marshall d.
Johns Hopkins, 30-17, 30-28, 26-30, 30-27.
Semifinal (at Johns Hopkins): Gettysburg d. Haverford,
30-14, 30-16, 30-26.
Final (at Johns Hopkins): Gettysburg d. Franklin &
Marshall, 30-21, 30-28, 30-28.
BALTIMORE, Md. – Lauren Thul (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) knocked down a match-high 16 kills, Shannan Smith (Milmont Park, PA/Ridley) put up 46 assists and Gettysburg swept to its fifth consecutive Centennial Conference (CC) volleyball championship with a 3-0 win over Franklin & Marshall on Sunday.
Katie Heffner (Easton, MD/Easton) added 11 kills and Jayme Massey (Springfield, PA/Merion Mercy Acad.) also hit double digits with 10 for the Bullets (20-12), who have captured 11 CC titles in the conference’s 13-year history. The championship was the first for first-year head coach Alexa Keckler.
With the win, Gettysburg earned the CC’s automatic invitation to the NCAA tournament, which begins on Thursday. The NCAA field will be announced late Sunday.
The Bullets’ balanced attack posted a .245 hitting percentage for the match, including a .294 mark in game three. Defensively, Gettysburg (20-12) dug more than half of the Diplomats’ attacks, paced by 23 digs from all-conference libero Steph Vial (Hanover, PA/Delone).
Margot Phelan led Franklin & Marshall (21-9) with 13 kills while Susan Taylor added eight kills and two blocks. Setter Jackie Skibbie posted a double-double with 27 assists and 18 digs for the Diplomats, who were unable to reproduce their regular-season victory against the Bullets.
Similar to its semifinal sweep of Haverford, Gettysburg blasted out to an early lead in game one, getting three straight kills from Thul for a 7-1 start.
F&M called a timeout, then rallied to within 8-7 before the Bullets exploded for a 13-4 run to take a 10-point lead. Erica Rau (Oakland Park, FL/Pine Crest) killed three consecutive points to cap the stretch. A block by the tandem of Thul and Massey made it 28-14 and Gettysburg absorbed a 7-1 Diplomat burst before closing out a 30-21 win.
Game two, which featured 14 ties and seven lead changes, wasn’t decided until the final points. The Bullets trailed for the final time at 20-19 before rattling off five consecutive points to go ahead 24-20.
With Phelan blasting two kills and adding a solo block, F&M battled back to tie the game at 26. Thul killed after a long rally to nudge Gettysburg back ahead and a running finish by Massey made it 28-26 and force the Diplomats’ final timeout.
After the break, Phelan blistered a kill straight down the middle and Alexis Dansky killed to the same spot to deadlock the game at 28 and force the Bullets’ final timeout. Gettysburg went ahead on an attack error that floated just beyond the back line and freshman Meghan McConville (Eldersburg, MD/Liberty) locked up the crucial game with one of her seven kills on the day.
Similar to game two, the third game also went down to the wire. Gettysburg never trailed after a McConville kill tied the game at 23 and went ahead to stay when Heffner killed to the near right corner for a 26-25 lead.
Two kills from Thul pushed the Bullets to championship point at 29-27. Phelan gave Franklin & Marshall life with a tip kill on Gettysburg’s next serve, but the Bullets locked up the title when McConville’s final attack deflected off a Diplomat block attempt and out of bounds.
In two playoff matches, Thul led the Bullets with 26 kills while Heffner hit .400 with 19 kills and only three errors. Smith put up 74 assists while Vial led the way with 33 digs.