Blair conquers milestone as Gettysburg volleyball has successful tournament
Senior Laura Bergin became the 12th Bullet to reach 1000 kills in her career Oct.11.
Photo credit: David Sinclair, GC C&M
By Andy Milone, Web Content Manager
The first week of October proved to be memorable for the Gettysburg volleyball as players young and old conquered new milestones.
Kim Rain, class of 1992, took her spot among the greats in the Gettysburg College Hall of Athletic Honor Sept. 30. Rain was inducted due to both her success as a player and a coach, where she has earned 800 wins.
The current Orange and Blue team then swept a pair of matches in Williamsport, PA Oct.11, defeating Wilkes University 9-13 in three games and the previously unbeaten Alfred State 12-1 in five games.
“The team was able to be so successful in the tournament this past Friday because we were aggressive in all aspects of the entire game,” said junior Katherine Gilbert. “The team was very focused and disciplined in our skills, and it led us to our victories.”
Senior Laura Bergin highlighted the tournament when she reached the 1,000 career kills milestone during the opening match against Wilkes. Bergin is one of 11 Bullets in history to earn this honor.
Bergin is a two time Second Team All-Centennial Conference selection, and she had a career high day by tying her personal bests in kills and putting up her best dig total of the 2016 season. Her kill set remains the best on the team at 3.39.
The Bullets outmatched Wilkes in three games with scores of 25-8, 25-16 and 25-12, respectively. In the first match, the Bullets got the first six points before maintaining their composure in the latter part of what was a back-and-fourth affair of rallies.
The second match featured Wilkes having a 7-6 lead before the Bullets strung together two streaks of five straight points to close out another victory. It was a similar story in the third match with Gettysburg dominating the service and eventually conquering in the three set sweep.
Bergin had 15 kills to start her day while junior Stephanie Blair marked up the stat sheet with six kills, 27 assists, and 11 digs. Gilbert added to 15 digs to her season totals.
“We came out and really gave it our all,” said Blair. “I haven’t seen us play with so much fire in us and a desire to win as much as I did this past weekend. I think that desire really pushed us to go after every ball and never give up when we were down.”
Alfred State made Gettysburg work in the second half of the tournament by extending the affair to the full five-game set. The first game was back and forth for the entire match until a kill by junior Maddie Weikert put the game to rest.
The second game had a style of rallies, but the Alfred State Pioneers came out on top with a three point margin to spare. Gettysburg showcased some dominance in the third game with a pair of five point streaks. Alfred State took the fourth game before Gettysburg got a chance to take home an impressive win in a final do-or-die game.
Blair assisted many points for the Orange & Blue in this match while junior Lauren Godshalk tallied some kills early on in the match and Bergin bringing in the kills at the end. Blair had a career five sets matching her personal best with 51 assists while tallying the 19 digs. First-year Francesca Garison had 10 kills.
“Our goal for the rest of the season is to keep playing our game and focus on what we can do to win each game individually,” said Gilbert.
The Gettysburg volleyball team will next battle Bryn Mawr on Saturday, October 15 in Bream Gym at 1 p.m.
