Women’s Fighting Owls Volleyball Team Takes It At The Net, Swarm Essex For Win In Five

From HCC Sports Desk

BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford women’s volleyball team saw its first five-set match of the season as the Fighting Owls (6-8, 4-4 MDJUCO) downed CCBC-Essex, 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 24-26, 15-12), on Tuesday night at Harford Gymnasium.

Freshman Lindsey Gilhooly (Havre de Grace, Md./Havre de Grace) led the Harford attack, putting up her third double-double of the season with 11 kills on 26 attacks and just one error for a .385 hitting percentage as well as 16 digs, three aces and a solo block.

Erin Sauter led the Knights (6-12, 3-5 MDJUCO) with her own double-double after tallying 12 kills and 10 digs in addition to three aces.

Freshman Selena Ortega-Marvel (Elkton, Md./Rising Sun) and sophomore Brielle Webster (Havre de Grace, Md./Havre de Grace) split the setting duties for the Owls with each player tallying 11 assists. Ortega-Marvel was also just one kill and two digs away from a triple-double as she recorded nine kills and eight digs, in addition to three aces, while Webster led the team with six aces and freshman Audrey Werneke (Havre de Grace, Md./Havre de Grace) tallied 22 digs.

The match was a battle of scoring runs, with neither team recording better than a 60% sideout percentage in any set. As a team Essex hit .000 for the match, while Harford was not much better, maintaining a .094 hitting efficiency. The match also saw a combined 10 ball handling errors, 61 attack errors, and 33 aces.

Set one, which saw 12 ties and five lead changes, saw the Owls take an early, 3-1, lead, but after ties at three, five, and six points, Essex took its first lead of the game at 7-6. Harford would tie three more times before the Owls regained the lead at 15-14, but just as easily gave it back to the Knights. Finally, when Harford had built a substantial three-point lead at 22-19, it seemed the Owls would edge out a win.

An attack error by Ortega-Marvel followed by a Knight ace, put Essex within one and a service error by the Knights gave Harford a 23-21 lead, but it would be their last as a service error by Ortega-Marvel gave the serve back to Essex. The Knights then proceeded to win the next three points on a Harford ball handling error, Knight kill, and a final ace to give Essex the 25-23 win.

Set two was another close affair, which started the opposite of the previous set as Essex took a 4-1 lead early. Harford would tie at six points and after an Essex ball handling error that made the score 10-9 in favor the Knights, the Owls would see a three-point run behind Gilhooly’s serve to take their first lead at 12-10.

Soon after, however, Essex saw their own four-point serving run to take back the lead, 17-15, but that was short lived as sophomore Claire Sheldon (Havre de Grace, Md./Havre de Grace) served for four consecutive points to give Harford the 20-17 lead. Essex would come no closer than one point for the rest of the set as Harford pulled out the 25-22 victory and knot the match at one set each.

The Owls dominated in set three, putting together a 7-1 lead to start the set and adding an 11-point run sparked by a Gilhooly kill at 11-7. Webster served for 10 consecutive points and tallied four aces as Harford took a 21-7 lead on the way to the 25-15 set win.

Set four saw more of the same back and forth action as sets one and two, with 10 ties and four lead changes throughout the game. Essex had built a six-point lead at 13-7 before a Knight service error sparked a seven-point serving run behind Gilhooly to give the Owls a 15-13 advantage. The lead changed twice more before Essex knotted the set at 22 points and then took a 24-22 lead. Harford answered with its own two-point rally thanks to a Knight service error and a kill by Sheldon that knotted the game at 24 points. Needing just two points to win the match, the Owls gave up two consecutive Essex kills and fell 26-24 in the set.

In the final set of the match, Harford took a quick, 3-0 lead and never surrendered that lead. Essex threatened with a three-point rally to make the score 14-12, but Gilhooly added the final point with a kill to give the Owls the 15-12 set and match win.

The Fighting Owls return to action on Thursday, when they host Chesapeake for a 6:00 p.m. match.

Short Box Score (Match)
2008 Harford Volleyball
CCBC-Essex vs Harford (Oct 07, 2008 at Bel Air, Md.)
Harford def. CCBC-Essex 23-25,25-22,25-15,24-26,15-12
CCBC-Essex (6-12, 3-5 MDJUCO) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Sauter, Erin
12-3-1; Fronczak, Cortney 8-4-1; Rogers, Kelly 7-2-2; Colley, Katelynn
6-2-1; Peralta, Heather 4-0-0; Geelhaar, Candace 1-0-1; Blevins,
Brandi 0-4-0; Schuler, Carey 0-1-0; Totals 38-16-4.5. (Assists) –
Fronczak, Cortney 16; Blevins, Brandi 12. (Dig leaders) – Sauter, Erin
10; Colley, Katelynn 9; Fronczak, Cortney 8
Harford (6-8, 4-4 MDJUCO) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Gilhooly, Lindsey
11-3-1; Ortega-Marvel, Selen 9-3-2; Sheldon, Claire 7-2-0; Sullivan,
Kelsey 3-2-3; Bizzell, Erica 1-0-2; Kaszak, Brittany 1-0-3; Webster,
Brielle 0-6-0; Werneke, Audrey 0-1-0; Totals 32-17-6.0. (Assists) –
Ortega-Marvel, Selen 11; Webster, Brielle 11. (Dig leaders) – Werneke,
Audrey 22; Gilhooly, Lindsey 16; Ortega-Marvel, Selen 8; Sheldon,
Claire 8
Site: Bel Air, Md. (Harford Gym)
Date: Oct 07, 2008 Attend: 63 Time: 1:52
Referees: Joe Schmitz, Joe Vrzalik