WASHINGTON, D.C. - The fourth set lead held by
the Gallaudet University volleyball team slowly evaporated as St.
Mary's (Md.) College staged a comeback against the Bison on
Thursday night. The Seahawks served for the match in a crucial
Capital Athletic Conference game before 200 fans at the Field House
but fell short. Gallaudet snatched the win away from the Seahawks
as the Bison staved off elimination in the fourth set and rode the
momentum in the fifth set to a 21-25, 25-21, 24-26, 27-25, 15-11
victory.
Gallaudet (17-9, 4-2 CAC) remains in third-place in the
conference as St. Mary's (11-9, 2-3 CAC) falls into a three-way tie
for fifth-place with Stevenson University and Marymount (Va.)
University.
The Bison seniors led the way as Amanda Krieger
(Carmel, Ind.), reigning CAC Player of the Week, and
Justine Jeter (Noblesville, Ind.) delivered big
kills upfront and libero Shana Lehmann (Frederick,
Md.) dove all over the court to keep the ball alive.
In the match changing fourth set, freshmen Ann
Whited (Fishers, Ind.) and Jessica Israel
(Frederick, Md.) came through with a huge block against Claire
Kodan to give GU a 26-25 lead. Krieger closed out the set with a
kill off an assist from sophomore Paige Johnson
(North Richland Hills, Texas).
Krieger began the fifth set with back-to-back kills from
Johnson. SMC quickly tied the set and held an 8-7 lead as the teams
switched sides of the court. Jeter helped serve GU to a 10-8 lead,
which forced the Seahawks to call a timeout. St. Mary's tied the
set for the fifth and final time at 10 apiece. The Bison scored the
next four points and closed the set on a Krieger kill for the 15-11
set victory.
This is the fourth match this season that went the distance for
the Bison and the third CAC match at home to go five. Gallaudet is
3-1 in matches that reach five sets.
Krieger finished the match with a season-high 29 kills and 17
digs for her 11th double-double this season and even added five
service aces. Jeter recorded 16 kills, nine digs, three service
aces and one block solo while Lehmann ended with a team-high 33
digs. Johnson passed out 53 assists while Whited slammed home 10
kills to go with five service aces and digs.
St. Mary's took the first set as Gallaudet looked slow and tired
early on. The Bison evened the match in the second set by the
identical set score from the first, 25-21. The Seahawks picked up a
key set win in the third with a 26-24 victory over the Bison.
Gallaudet is off until next Wednesday, October 21, when the
Bison welcome CAC foe Hood College to town for a 7 p.m. match.
