WC Hits School-Record .500 in Keystone Victory

GETTYSBURG, PA -- The Washington College volleyball team posted a pair of wins on the first day of the Gettysburg Battlefield Classic, hosted by Gettysburg College. The Shorewomen (3-0) hit a rally scoring-era school-record .500 as a team in a 25-12, 25-10, 25-9, victory over Keystone and held off Penn State-Harrisburg, 25-21, 25-13, 18-25, 25-22.

The first set against Keystone was tied 8-8 before the Shorewomen ran off 10 straight points to take a commanding 18-8 lead en route to the 25-12 final. Freshman libero Kaitlin Rowan (Damascus, MD/Damascus) served three consecutive aces during that run. The Shorewomen carried that momentum into the second set, winning 25-10 behind four kills from sophomore outside hitter Emily Hudson (Sparks, MD/Hereford). The final set saw the Shorewomen turn a 12-7 advantage into a 24-7 lead as sophomore outside hitter Lauren Feeny (Upper Darby, PA/Villa Maria Academy) served 11 consecutive points.

The Shorewomen recorded 32 kills against only three errors in 58 attempts in the win over Keystone to finish with a .500 attack percentage. Their previous best single-match effort since rally scoring began in 2001 was a .438 mark (33 kills, 5 errors, 64 attempts) in a 30-6, 30-13, 30-7, win over Lincoln on September 3rd, 2005.

Feeny finished with a match-high eight kills against one error in 11 attempts to go along with a match-best seven digs against Keystone. Freshman middle hitter Jenny Lee (Wilmington, DE/Mount Pleasant) was a perfect six-for-six on attack attempts, while senior middle hitter Kelli Canada (Midlothian, VA/James River) had six kills and one error in 11 attempts and Emily Hudson tallied five kills and one error in 11 attempts. Junior middle hitter Maria Whitman (Galesville, MD/Southern) added four kills and no errors in six attempts. Senior setter Caitlin Ward (Wantagh, NY/Holy Trinity) recorded 29 assists in the victory. All 14 Shorewomen played in the win.

Heather Reiman led Keystone with five kills in the loss.

The Shorewomen trailed, 19-15, in the first set against Penn State-Harrisburg, but then ran off seven straight points to take a 22-19 lead en route to the 25-21 final. In the second set, Washington held an early 3-2 lead before scoring 13 of the next 14 points to take a commanding 16-3 lead and cruising to a 25-13 win. In the third set, Penn State-Harrisburg used an early 9-1 run to take a 13-6 lead and went on to take the set, 25-18. Washington was trailing, 20-16, in the fourth set before finishing the match with a 9-2 run.

Feeny pounded down a match-best 16 kills in the win over Penn State-Harrisburg, while Lee recorded her first career double-double, totaling 10 kills and 13 digs to go along with four block assists. Rowan had match-highs of 19 digs and three aces, while Canada added eight kills and sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Forget (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) added seven. Whitman contributed six kills and four block assists. Ward piled up 46 assists in the victory and also scooped out 10 digs.

Elise Williams finished with a team-best nine kills for Penn State-Harrisburg, while Amanda Duda tallied 15 digs.

Tomorrow at the Battlefield Classic, the Shorewomen will play Penn State-Mont Alto at 12:00 p.m. and Old Westbury at 2:00 p.m.