Elizabethtown, Pa. - It took five sets for the Millersville volleyball team to earn a win over local rival Elizabethtown on Wednesday night inside the Blue Jays' Thompson Gymnasium.

The Marauders improved to 10-14 overall including 7-2 against nonconference opponents in 2014 while Elizabethtown's overall mark dropped to 11-16. The all-time series is now knotted up at 4-4 between the two teams and Millersville's last defeat to the Blue Jays came in 2007.

In total, the match saw 21 ties and 10 lead changes and the Marauders' .137 hitting percentage was just a bit better than that of Elizabethtown's .130. The two teams exchanged blows to begin the first set before Millersville opened up a seven-point lead, 13-6, and forced the home team to call a timeout. Out of the breather, the visitors increased their lead to as many as 12 on three occasions as it was in the final score of the first set.

The hosts scored the first four points of the second stanza before the Marauders reeled off a 7-1 run to go up 7-5 in the set. That fury was fueled by three Kayla Wallace kills and two more from Mary Paul. The period saw two more ties with the second coming at 9-9 before the Blue Jays regained the lead and didn't look back taking the stanza by seven points. That set marked Elizabethtown's bests offensive performance of the night with an attacking percentage of .281. 

Period number three saw the fewest ties and lead changes with one of each. Millersville began with a 6-1 thanks in part to two kills from Paul and the set wasn't tied up until the score was 14-14. That deadlock came in the midst of a 13-4 run for the home team as it went on to take the set by six points and a two sets to one lead.

The fourth stanza was the closest one of the match that saw eight ties and two changes in advantage. The biggest lead that either team held was four points and that belonged to the Marauders when they were ahead, 8-4. It was very tight other than that point but Millersville was able to take the last three points of the set and knot the match up at two sets apiece.

In the fifth and deciding set, the Marauders were up 4-1 to start but the set would see five ties with the last one coming at 14-14. That tie came as part of a three-point stretch for the away team as it claimed the period and the match. Millersville hit a blistering .318 in the set with nine kills and only two errors on 22 total attacks.

Paul led the attack with 13 kills while Wallace chipped in 11 and Erin Harman added 10. The offense was aided by Victoria Biggins' 45 assists and this match marked the first time she's gone over 40 since Sept. 20 against Seton Hill (52). Defensively, Brooklyn Smith registered 35 digs and Biggins had a career-high 16. Paul accumulated two solo blocks and four assisted.

Friday, the Marauders return home for the first time in nearly three weeks to take on Cheyney beginning at 7 p.m.