MEDFORD, Mass.—Gordon Volleyball fell twice in a NESCAC tri-match at Tufts University on Saturday evening. The Fighting Scots began the day with a hard-fought loss in four sets to Colby before dropping a three-set match to the regionally ranked Jumbos in the final event of the day.
The Fighting Scots hit a three-game skid after dropping the two matches on Saturday and now sit even in the standings at 11-11. Gordon will host Rivier on Wednesday in hopes of getting things back on track with the end of the conference schedule coming down the pipe.
The Fighting Scots dropped a heartbreaker in their opening match of the day, falling to Colby in four sets. Gordon dropped all sets by two points to fall to 11-10 on the season.
Gordon had one its finest hitting performances of the season, never hitting below .100 in any given set. The Scots raced out to the lead in the first set, leading by as many as six points and controlling the game until the midway point. Colby fought its way back and tied the match several times in the late stages before using a 4-1 run to end the set for a 25-23 victory.
The second set followed a similar them with the Scots running out to an early lead before the Mules chipped their way back into the thick of things. Colby took its first lead of the set at 16-15, as a part of a 4-0 run to put the Scots in a small hole. The Mules were able to stay just ahead of Gordon for the rest of the set, seesawing their way to another 25-23 result.
Colby controlled the third set for the majority, gaining its largest lead of the match at 16-10 and a chance to sweep the Fighting Scots. However, Gordon showed fight by putting together a 9-1 run to take a 19-17 advantage. The Mules were never able to knot things back up and Gordon did just enough to take it 25-22.
The Mules responded well in the fourth by building up another six-point lead, but once again the Fighting Scots battled their way back into the game at 17-14. Colby then went on a 7-2 streak of its own to come within a point of overall victory. Not to be outdone, Gordon showcased its largest amount of grit in 2016 by staving off seven consecutive match points for the Mules. Colby was able to get a nice kill to end the threat, winning again 25-23 and taking the match 3-1.
Meghan Hokanson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) had perhaps her best match of the season with 14 kills, while rookie Amanda Snyder (San Jose, Calif.) had a sharp nine kills to one error. Carleigh Petersen (North Hills, Calif.) led the Scots with 16 kills in the match.
Renee Cooprider (Hopkinton, Mass.) set up 40 kills, while Maggie Risma (Hudson, Ohio) contributed 18 digs.
Match Two
Gordon's second opponent of the day proved to be even tougher as the NESCAC leading Jumbos best the visitors in three.
The Fighting Scots jumped out to an early lead in the first set, and held that lead for the first part of the set. Down 10-7 sophomore Angela Yu went to serve for the Jumbos, and they scored six consecutive points behind her serve to take the 12-10 lead. The Jumbos would grow that lead just a couple of points later behind the serve of junior co-captain Alex Garrett, and they moved to the 25-13 win in set one.
It was the Jumbos who jumped out to an early lead in the second set, and led by as many as 10 at various different times during the set before taking the 25-13 win to own the 2-0 advantage in the match.
The third set would be the closest of the match as once again the visitors started hot, and jumped out to the early lead. Down 8-4 the Jumbos scored five points behind the serve of freshman Kelly Klimo to take the one-point advantage, 9-8. But the Scots tied it again at nine, and the two teams would trade the lead for a while. With things locked at 18, the Jumbos took the lead thanks to a kill from freshman Christina Nwankpa and a service ace from Klimo. Despite a couple of Gordon points, the Jumbos were able to hold on to the 25-20 win in set three to take the match.
Sophomore Mackenzie Bright led the Jumbos offensively with 11 kills and Nwankpa added six as did senior McKenzie Humann. Humann and Nwankpa both added three blocks to their efforts, as did senior co-captain Elizabeth Ahrens. Defensively, Klimo led the Jumbos with 15 digs and sophomore Angela Yu added seven. Yu also tallied four service aces in the match. Sophmore Rachel Furash and Yu handled the setting for the Jumbos, with Yu tallying 17 assists and Furash finishing with 12.
For Gordon, Petersen finished with eight kills and Hokanson, Snyder and Jenna Labbadia (Berlin, Conn.) all added four. Defensively, Kristen Cooprider (Hopkinton, Mass.) tallied seven digs and Petersen added six. Renee Cooprider ran the offense for the Scots, finishing with 17 assists.
Portions of release courtesy of Tufts
