SALISBURY, MD – The York College Spartan volleyball squad
threw a big scare into top seeded Salisbury University as the Green
and White extended the Sea Gulls to five games before falling in
the final set in Thursday's Capital Athletic Conference
semifinals in Salisbury, MD. The set scores were 24-26, 25-23,
25-22, 19-25, 15-6.
Salisbury improves to 29-4 as they advance to
face Gallaudet in the CAC title contest on Saturday in Salisbury.
The Spartans fall to 18-14 overall.
The first set saw the Sea Gulls jump on the
Spartans early as they took a commanding 18-8 lead. The Spartans
slowly started to climb back into the set but still trailed 22-14.
York then fashioned a 10-2 spurt that tied the match at 24. The
Spartans earned the set one win courtesy of a Salisbury hitting
error and an Alishia Waltermyer (Brogue, Pa./Red
Lion) kill.
The second set was much closer throughout.
Salisbury held a three-point lead at 13-10 before York went on a
12-4 run to take a 22-17 advantage. Salisbury stormed back and
finished the set on an 8-1 run that turned an almost certain
Spartan set win into a 1-1 tie.
Set three was another close one as York led
early only to have the hosts come back and seize the lead. The two
squads were tied at 10 but Salisbury ripped off four of the next
five points to take the 14-11 lead. The Gulls would push the lead
to as high as four before the Spartans trimmed the lead to two at
22-20. Another Waltermyer kill brought the Green and White to
within one at 22-21 but Rachel Downs registered consecutive kills
to give the Gulls a 24-21 lead. Alysse Beshore (York,
Pa./Northeastern) banged home a kill to draw the Spartans
to within 24-22 before a Spartan service error ended the set.
York never trailed in the fourth set as they
posted a 25-19 victory in the set to extend the match to a fifth
set. That fifth set would not be kind to the Green and White as the
Gulls jumped out to a 6-1 lead. York cut the lead to 7-3 but that
would be as close as York got as the hosts rolled to the fifth set
victory.
York was led by senior Jaclyn Davis
(Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) as she concluded her
career in stellar fashion. Davis recorded a match-high 19 kills
while she also had a block assist for 19.5 points. Waltemyer was
the other Spartan in double figures in kills with 15 kills for 15
points. Beshore was the third Spartan in double figures with 13
points on seven kills, five service aces, and a pair of block
assists.
Sophomore Cortni Rentzel (Mt. Wolf,
Pa./Northeastern) handed out 46 assists and had five digs
while she also had four block assists. Freshman Ashley
Rineman (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) led York with 22
digs while Jana Arentz (Hanover, Pa./Hanover)
chipped in with 14 digs of her own.
Downes led Salisbury with 17 points on 14
kills, two service aces and a block. Downes also excelled
defensively as she notched a double-double with 11 digs. Gabby Long
recorded 19 digs to lead the Salisbury defense while Lindsey
Saltzman handed out 30 assists and Carley Todd had 21 helpers.
The Spartans lose Davis, setter Amand
Rouillard (Woodbine, Md./Glenelg) and defensive specialist
Amanda Clemens (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) but
return all six starters in 2010 which bodes well for the Spartan
program heading into next season.
MATCH BOX
Photo: Senior Jaclyn Davis closed out her career with a big 19
kill performance.
