Women’s Volleyball close out their season with a tough loss to Johns Hopkins
Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College website. Sophomore Stephanie Blair recorded 31 assists and 12 digs against Johns Hopkins.
By Jake Verner, Staff Writer
The Gettysburg Lady Bullets finished the season at home on Halloween against the Johns Hopkins University Lady Blue Jays. The women’s volleyball team fell short losing the match three games to one to a talented team in Johns Hopkins who made it to the Centennial Conference Semifinals before losing to McDaniel.
The opening frame set the pace for the back-and-forth battle with ten ties and five lead changes. However, Johns Hopkins (12-10, 8-2 CC) pulled away and won the match with scores of 25-23, 25-20, 22-25, and 25-23.
Nonetheless the Lady Bullets finished the season with a (4-6) record in the competitive Centennial Conference and had an overall winning record of (14-13) which includes non-conferences games. It is also of note that Junior Laura Bergin was named to the All Centennial Conference second team for the second straight year after another impressive campaign this season for the Lady Bullets. Bergin finished the season with 351 kills, the most by a Lady Bullet in over 10 years. She will look to continue her impressive Gettysburg College career next season.
In reflecting on this past season, first-year middle hitter Mattie Maull said, “It was a great opportunity to play with this great group of girls.”
Maull is already looking forward to next season and improving on her first season as a member of the Gettysburg College women’s volleyball team.
It is great to see such a tight-knit group competing week in and week out representing Gettysburg College. In a sport like volleyball, it is of the utmost importance to have great team camaraderie and communication among the members of the team because without these factors it is incredibly difficult to put together a winning team capable of generating positive momentum.
Sophomore libero Katherine Gilbert also had positive things to say about this year’s season. Gilbert said, “[The team] had really great leadership. The seniors pushed us but made it fun at the same time and we are all going to miss their presence.”
The team boasted four seniors on this year’s squad in Hannah Bentz, Alesha Miller, Courtney Morrow, and Joosje Grevers. One of the challenges the Lady Bullets will face as they transition into next year is establishing a new group of leaders on the squad.
Graduating senior Hannah Bentz believes that if, “the team works hard and teaches the incoming first-years the culture of success here, then the program will continue to improve.”
Gilbert feels optimistic about next season. She said, “We have a lot of new talent coming in and I think they will bring a lot to the team. A lot of girls are returning that have been playing the last two seasons who have gained a lot of experience.”
Experience will surely come in handy as four seniors depart from this team.
Coach Leah Bernier will enter into her seventh season at the helm for the Gettysburg College Lady Bullets and her experience as coach will undoubtedly provide some stability for the team as they look to build on this year’s season.
Be sure to look out for the Bullets next season when they return to dominate the court.
