MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The Bloomsburg volleyball team earned a five-set victory over Millersville on Saturday.
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The Huskies (8-8, 1-5 PSAC East) rallied from down two sets to pull off the reverse sweep over the Marauders (4-11, 0-6 PSAC East). The Bloomsburg attack had one of its better performances of the season, hitting .313 over the five sets for 66 kills, the second-most in a match in team history and the second-most in program history at 62.
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Katie Kuehl (Aston, Pa./Archmere Academy (Del.)) and
Sasha Moody (Abington, PA/Abington Senior) led the way for the second consecutive day offensively, each posting career-high kill totals. Kuehl led all players on Saturday with 22 kills while hitting .347. Moody upped her previous career-best set the day before to 15, doing so on a .353 hitting percentage. Moody additionally recorded her first career double-double with a new best of 12 digs.
Sara Kokolus (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom Area) put everything in alignment for the Huskies, supplying a career-high 52 assists while joining Moody with a double-double after a 14-dig performance.
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Defensively,
Emily Gustie (Crofton, Md./Crofton) scooped a career-high 23 digs in the match to aid the efforts along the back row.
Lydia Worthing (Tyrone, Pa./Bellwood Antis) complemented Gustie with her strong play at the net, recording three solo blocks and two block assists to go with a career-best nine kills while hitting .529.
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How It Happened:
The Huskies got off to a seemingly solid start in Saturday's match, taking a lead deep into the set at 17-16. The situation flipped in the opening frame for Bloomsburg as Millersville rattled off a 5-0 run that would help the hosts finish on a 9-2 stretch to take the set. The second set remained tightly contested, as the two sides continued to trade the lead. The Huskies had a lead at the 18-17 point, even seeing the set tied at 22-22. The Marauders would again rise to the occasion in the closing moments, coming away with three kills in the final four points to go on the brink of securing the victory.
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Bloomsburg's shift came in its defensive execution, as the Huskies matched their offensive and defensive intensity to reverse the outcome. Trailing 4-7 in the third set, a 5-0 run was the beginning of a 13-2 stretch that gave new life to Bloomsburg in the match. Kuehl led the charge with four kills as the Huskies began putting everything together to go up 17-9. Millersville responded with a 5-0 run to cut the lead in the set to three, but Bloomsburg had found a new gear and turned to Moody to make it a 1-2 match with three kills in the team's final seven points.
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The Huskies' attacking ferocity reared itself early in the fourth set with another 5-0 run to go up 8-3. Moody settled Bloomsburg into the frame with back-to-back kills, with Worthing bookending the stretch with a solo block and a kill. Kuehl would enter the fray with consecutive kills herself to help the Huskies' lead grow to 10. Despite the efforts of the Marauders to chip away at the advantage, cutting the Bloomsburg lead to as little as three, the Huskies leaned on Kuehl for another three kills to help force a deciding fifth set.
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The two teams remained close approaching the halfway point of the set, as a 7-3 advantage for Bloomsburg was not enough to dissuade Millersville from pulling back within one at 7-6. The two teams would eventually return to square one at 9-9, but the Huskies had the edge. Kuehl carried the workload in the final moments of the match, recording four of Bloomsburg's final six points with a kill, including the match winner, to get the Huskies back in the win column.
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On the Horizon:
The Huskies are back in action on Friday, October 9, at 6:00 p.m. to take on East Stroudsburg.
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