YORK,
PA - The York College volleyball squad put
together one of their more complete efforts of the year as they
downed St. Mary's College 3-0 in a Capital Athletic
Conference match on Tuesday in York. The Spartans won the match
25-22, 25-13, and 25-23.
The Spartans
improve to 7-4 overall and 2-1 in the CAC while the Seahawks had
their six-match win streak snapped as they fall to 7-5 and 1-1 in
the CAC.
The first set had
all the makings of a classic, as neither team was able to gain any
significant momentum during the set. The Spartans took an early 3-0
lead only to see the Seahawks come back and tie the set at three.
That was the beginning of a stretch that saw the two teams trade
the lead seven times with 13 ties. Neither team had more than a two
point lead until the Spartans took a 20-17 lead. York pushed the
advantage to 21-17, their largest lead of the set before the guest
eventually trimmed the lead to one at 23-22 on a Seahawk block.
After a time out, Julie Coombs (Leonardtown,
Md./Leonardtown) and Alishia Waltermyer (Brogue,
Pa./Red Lion) registered back-to-back kills to close out
the first set win for York.
The second set
started much like the first as the two squads were tied at four.
That's where the similarity ended from set one as York went
on an 8-0 run to give themselves a 12-4 lead. The Seahawks trimmed
the York lead to six three different times before a 5-0 Spartan
spurt keyed by a pair of Waltermyer kills, pushed the York
advantage to 20-9. York scored the five of the final nine points to
close out set two.
The Spartans have
struggled early in the year when presented with a 2-0 lead and York
looked like it might leave the guest back in the match. The
Seahawks forged a 12-8 lead and they would reach that four point
high water mark three more times before York clawed their way back
into the match courtesy of a 7-1 spurt, allowing them to take a
20-17 lead. York increased the lead to 22-18 before St.
Mary's scored three straight to make it 22-21, Spartans. The
squads traded points over the next four tallies, making the score
24-23 York. Sophomore Heather Bucher (Carlisle,
Pa./Carlisle) closed out the match with a kill, giving the
Spartans a key home conference victory.
Spartan head
coach Sue DuMars was pleased with the victory.
“It was a
good win for us and it was one that we needed,” said DuMars.
“I was glad to see us finish the match off in three. I
thought we played very a very steady match tonight.”
The Spartans had
a number of strong performances led by Coombs, as the sophomore was
outstanding. Coombs had a double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs
for the Green and White. Waltermyer also played well as she had 13
kills and a pair of blocks for 14.5 points, which tied her with
Coombs for the team lead. Junior Alysse Beshore (York,
Pa./Northeastern) was highly efficient in her play as she
had eight kills in 10 attempts for a blistering .800 attack
percentage. Libero Ashley Rineman
(Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) continues to be a defensive
force for the Spartans as she picked up 18 digs. Defensive
specialist Jana Arentz (Hanover, Pa./Hanover)
chipped into the Spartan defensive effort with 12 digs of her own.
Arentz also banged out four service aces in the match. Setter
Cortni Rentzel (Mt. Wolf, Pa./Northeastern) handed
out 41 assists with two kills and three digs. Bucher added 10 digs,
four kills, a service ace and a block assist.
The Spartans
return to action on Friday when they host the seven-team Spartan
Best Western Westgate Invitational in York. The Spartans face
Moravian at 5:00 pm on Friday followed by a 9:00 pm match against
Rowan. The tournament starts at 3:00 pm on Friday and runs through
4:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.
MATCH BOX
Julie Coombs photo courtesy of Steve Doemland (www.stevedoemland.com)
