GETTYSBURG, Pa. – To say that sometimes a team has your number can be a bit over-exaggerated. However, that is not the case when it comes to Dickinson and Gettysburg on the volleyball court as the Bullets had not dropped a match to the Red and White since 1990 which amounted to 34 times. Fortunately, for the Devils streaks are meant to be broken which is exactly what DC did on Wednesday night as they knocked off Gettysburg by a 3-0 final at Bream Gymnasium in Centennial Conference action.
The Devils were rolling early as
Cassidy Davis began the match on the service line and thanks to two kills from
Amelia Kim and one by
Emma Popham staked the guests to a 6-0 lead. The two sides shared the next eight points with Kim and Popham once again finding the scoresheet to make it 10-4. After each team recorded two more the Devils got kills from
Sophia Denayer and
Emma Lange to open up a ten-point cushion 16-6. A pair of kills by Kylie Ulrich and other scores from Catherine Holtz and Mary Huegel trimmed it to 17-12, but Popham recorded two more points to make the Devils the first to 20 (20-13). Alycen Radolovic and two DC errors brought the Bullets back in it at 20-17. However, a combination block between
Jordan Schucker and Lange, coupled by two kills from Kim capped a 5-1 run and the set 25-18.
The teams were nip-and-tuck to begin the second as a joint block from
Alexa Barowski and Popham along with a surprising kill for
Camille Dofiles had things locked at 4-4. Scores from Olivia Biggs, Kendall Erpenbeck, Zanze Kuba-McCoy, Holtz, and Ulrich sparked a 10-3 Bullets charge to grab a 14-7 advantage. Dickinson seemed to find an answer with a 9-4 run aided by kills from Barowski, Denayer, Dofiles, Kim, and Lange to close within 18-16. Two consecutive home points made it 20-16, before Barowski, Davis, Denayer, and Lange brought the Devils even at 22-22. A kill from Radolovic gave the Bullets a slim edge, but then a joint block from Kim and Lange along with a kill by Lange wrapped up the second 25-23.
For the second time in the match the Red and White began a set with a bang as two kills from Lange and seven Gettysburg miscues made it 9-2. The home side responded with kills from Biggs, Holtz, Kuba-McCoy, and Radolovic helped them to cut the deficit down to 11-8. However, after that the Devils exploded with a 9-3 outburst with Barowski, Denayer, Kim, and Popham notched points for the visitors to stretch the advantage out to 20-11. Points by
Avery Lewis, Kim, and Lange brought DC to the verge of the match 24-16. However, the Bullets did not go down without a fight as they scored three straight, before Barowski pounded down the final point of the match (25-19).
Bullet Leaders
Kills - Holtz and Radolovic (8)
Digs - O'Leary (16), Erpenbeck (10)
Assists - Erpenbeck (14)
Red Devil Leaders
Kills - Kim (9), Lange (8), Denayer and Popham (6)
Digs - Lewis (13), Dofiles (9),
Ann Marie Patterson (8)
Assists - Dofiles and Schucker (13)
Next on the Court
Dickinson (11-8, 5-3 Centennial) returns to the Kline Center on Saturday for their final tri-match of the season as they host Swarthmore College in a conference match at 12pm, before battling nationally-ranked Susquehanna University (4pm).
