FREDERICK, Md. - The Hood College women's volleyball team opened its morning with a 3-1 win over Notre Dame (Md.) before falling in a five-set thriller to Penn St. Harrisburg in a tri-match at the Volpe Athletic Center.
Set Scores
- The Blazers defeated the Gators 25-23, 25-21, 18-25, 25-18.
- The Nittany Lions outlasted Hood 25-23, 21-25, 31-29, 24-26, 15-12.
Inside the Box Score
- Caitlin Ambruster (Fleetwood, PA/Brandywine Heights) had 29 kills over the two matches, to go along with 30 digs and six aces.
- Ann Ofoegbu (Falling Waters, WV/Spring Mills) made her collegiate debut in the tri-match and ended her day with 27 kills.
- Jackie Malitzki (Allentown, PA/Parkland) had seven aces against Notre Dame and finished with 10 overall. The sophomore dished out 47 assists over the two matches.
- Ainslee Barger (Poolesville, MD/Poolesville) had six aces against Penn St. Harrisburg and tallied 21 assists.
Hood 3, Notre Dame 1
- Malitzki had four straight aces to open the match as the Blazers took an early 7-1 lead in the first set. Hood held a commanding 19-8 advantage in the set before the Gators rallied with 14-2 run. Miasia Ferrer had three kills in the run before an attack error by the Blazers tied the set at 22-22 before Hood regrouped to take the set.
- The Gators raced out to a 13-4 lead in the second set before Hood fought back. Emma Elizondo (Littleton, CO/Heritage), Staci Kutzler (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) all had service aces and Ambruster added four kills during a stretch where the Blazers outscored Notre Dame 16-4 to take a 20-17 edge. After the Gators tied the set at 21-21, they committed a service error followed by three attack errors to give Hood the 2-0 lead in the match.
- Ofoegbu had four consecutive kills as Hood erased an early 5-1 deficit to take a 6-5 lead in set three. Hood never led in the set again as Notre Dame forced a fourth set.
- Ambruster notched two kills and two aces in a 6-1 run at the start of the fourth set. Ofoegbu had three more kills as the lead expanded to 13-4. Notre Dame was never able to get closer than two points the rest of the set in a Hood win that gave the Blazers the match.
- While Ambruster and Ofoegbu had 13 kills each for the Blazers, six players had between four and nine kills for the Gators.
Penn State Harrisburg 3, Hood 2
- The two teams were virtually even all afternoon, with none of the sets decided by more than four points.
- Hood led 23-22 in the opener, but the Nittany Lions scored the final three points, including an ace by Hannah DeGregory that sealed the 1-0 lead.
- Penn St. Harrisburg led 16-12 in set two before a pair of Kutzler aces capped a 5-1 run that tied things up at 17-17. After falling behind 21-18, Hood rattled off seven straight points to even things at 1-1.
- The Blazers carried the momentum into the third set, claiming a 12-4 lead after an ace by Malitzki. Hood still led 19-14 when a 7-2 stretch from Harrisburg tied the score at 21-21. There would be seven more ties and three lead changes before a Tiniira Tubo kill and an ace by Katie Richardson broke a 29-29 deadlock to give the Nittany Lions a 31-29 win.
- Kills by Ambruster and Shane Simms (Baltimore, MD/Sparrows Point) broke a fourth-set tie at 24-24 to give Hood its second set of the match, forcing the fifth and deciding set.
- The two sides traded points to open the fifth set with an Ambruster kill resulting in the set's seventh tie with the score 7-7. The Nittany Lions gained some breathing room with a 6-2 run that made it 13-9 after a block by Anna Ruff and Amoi Willis.
- Ambruster had 16 kills with Ofoegbu (14) and Carrington Ray (Washington, DC/St. Andrew's Episcopal) (11) also reaching double figures.
- Ruff and Tubo combined for 30 kills for the Nittany Lions.
Notes
- Hood ended the afternoon 2-1 on the year.
- Penn State Harrisburg was also 2-1, while Notre Dame is 1-2.
Up Next
The Blazers open Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth play at Alvernia on September 7.
