Volleyball Takes Seesaw, Five-Set Thriller Over Penn State Harrisburg

TOWSON, Md, - Sophomore Greta Coss (Bowie, Md.) had a game-high 16 kills to lead the way, as the Goucher College volleyball team took a five-set thriller over Penn State Harrisburg on Tuesday night at the Decker SRC Arena (23-25, 25-17, 26-24, 18-25, 15-11).

With the win, Goucher moved to 6-5 overall, while Penn State Harrisburg fell to 6-7 with the defeat.

In the match, Penn State Harrisburg narrowly took the first set by two points, before Goucher rolled to an eight-point win in the second set to even things up at one set, apiece.

The third set saw Penn State Harrisburg take an early 14-6 lead, only for the Gophers to storm back and take a 24-21 lead. The Nittany Lions, however, scored three straight points to tie it up at 24-all. But, Goucher came back and scored consecutive points to take a 26-24 win to go up 2-1 in the match.

With a chance to win the match, Goucher was unable to close the deal in the fourth set, as Penn State Harrisburg took a seven-point win to send the match to a decisive fifth set.

There, the beginning of play was back-and-forth, with Penn State Harrisburg eventually scoring six points in a row to take a 9-7 lead.

Here, the Gophers attacked back to win the match, ending play on an 8-2 run to take the match with a 15-11 fifth set win. Up 12-11, Goucher scored the final three points of the night to clinch the victory, as sophomore Bianca Brown (North Brunswick, N.J.) finished off the match with a kill.

Overall, Coss' 16-kill performance was her best of the year to date, as she also posted seven digs on the evening.

Coss was one of four Gophers to go into double-figures in kills on the evening. Brown ended the night with a career-high 14 kills, while fellow sophomore Emily Sorrells (Annapolis, Md.) also hammered home a career-high with 13 kills. Rounding out the group was first-year Kaya Melchor (Mililani, Hawaii), who ended with 11 kills.

Setting up the attack all night was first-year Tes DeJaeger (Norwalk, Conn.) had a season-best 47 assists, while also posting 15 digs. Junior Virginia Estes (Homewood, Ala.) led the defense with 16 digs, while first-year Cat Hartley (Colorado Springs, Colo.) ended the night with 14 digs.

The Goucher College volleyball team returns to action on Friday evening, as they host St. Mary's inside the Decker SRC Arena. First serve is set for 6 p.m.

--GOPHERS--