MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Marauders were looking for their first PSAC East win of the season on Friday night but fell in a tough battle against the Bloomsburg Huskies after forcing the match to five sets.
Millersville (8-7, 0-2 PSAC) fell in the first set to Bloomsburg (3-11, 1-1 PSAC) with a score of 25-21. The Marauders were victorious in the set two with a score of 25-17. With the Huskies winning set three, Millersville was able to push the match to five sets but fell short, 15-11.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Marauders led by by seven midway through the first set, but his lead didn't hold for long, as the Huskies answered and tied it back up, 15-15. With even play for the next six points, Millersville tied the match 21-21 with a kill by Caroline Halsey. The Huskies were able to secure set one by scoring four-straight points.
- Millersville was on the board first in set two and the score stayed close with the Huskies. Bloomsburg scored off an attack error but the Marauders went on a five-point rally which included three kills and two service aces which extended their lead 21-15. The Huskies put two more points on the board, but a heavy swinging Rose Vail closed out set two with three consecutive kills.
- Set three featured six ties and four lead changes. With a score of 7-7, The Huskies forced a seven-point rally and extended their lead to 13-7. Millersville answered with seven points of their own, four of which were kills. With a Huskies leading 24-19, Millersville looked to close the gap coming within one-point of Bloomsburg, but the Huskies secured set three with a kill.
- In the fourth, with the set tied 13-13, the Marauders went on a 12-point rally to close the game 25-13. The 12 points included six kills by Kylie Airesman, Laurel Samko, Rylee Thomas, and Vail.
- The Huskies clinched the fifth set with a score of 15-11. Millersville kept the score close but was never able to gain the lead over Bloomsburg. Nine of Millersville's 11 points came from kills.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Vail recorded a season-high of 18 kills, eight digs, and six blocks.
- Samko recorded 14 kills and Airesman tallied nine.
- Emma Ludwig led the team in assists with 38 and recorded 23 digs.
- Becca Dalstad led the team in digs with 25 and tallied eight assists.
- Millersville totaled 59 kills against Bloomsburg's 56.
REACTION FROM HEAD COACH BRIAN SMITH
- On the team's performance: "It was a good match to watch. Statically we outperformed Bloom in all categories except dig and that was by one. Both teams went on runs and we dominated the fourth set which pushed the match to five. But the fifth set can turn out very differently and it only takes a team to get on one small run to apply pressure. In the end we just made a few more errors and stopped being aggressive in the final half of the final set. Going five sets gave all players a lot more swing and Rose and Laurel took advantage of that. I feel in general the team played well; we simply must get better at ending opponents run. It's hard to dig yourself out of them when you're evenly matched.
- Looking ahead to tomorrow's match-up: "We get to reload and compete again in 14 hours, so we look forward to securing a win."
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