Box Score
Elizabethtown, PA — Up until Wednesday night, heartbreak had been the primary mantra of Elizabethtown College volleyball as it pertained to Messiah.
In Wednesday's Commonwealth Conference Semi-Final match-up at Thompson Gymnasium, the host Blue Jays added another:
Pure shock.
After defeating Messiah by gut-wrenching 3-2 scores in three of the teams' last four meetings — including a 3-2 nail-biter nearly a month ago — second-seeded Elizabethtown dropped a bombshell on the Falcons, taking a lopsided 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-16) decision to conclude the visitors' season in almost unfathomable fashion.
Messiah (18-14) never led at any point in Wednesday's match and suffered its first 3-0 loss since Sept. 18, putting an abrupt stop to a team that entered the evening having won eight of its last nine events.
With the win, Elizabethtown (20-9) advances to Saturday's Commonwealth Championship, and will face top-seeded Lebanon Valley College, which defeated fourth-seed Widener University by a 3-0 score Wednesday evening as well.
“We were not good tonight at all,” said Judi Tobias, Messiah head coach. “They took us out of it right away, and we never recovered. They played very well. We played horrendous. When that happens, you get a result like this.”
It was a result that history couldn't have possibly predicted, as E'Town and Messiah had put together some magnificent battles in recent meetings, including the Blue Jays' aforementioned comeback win on Oct. 6. That decision ended in a 15-12, fifth-set score — the third time E'Town had captured a five-set win over Messiah by that final tally in the teams' last four meetings.
Wednesday night's match-up would be decided long before a fifth stanza would even become a remote possibility, however, as Elizabethtown jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the opening set and never looked back. The Blue Jays hit at a match-best .536 attack percentage in that set, going on to post 40 kills on a ridiculous .438 hitting clip overall — far and away the highest attack percentage Messiah had allowed to an opponent this season.
“We couldn't get the ball to our hitters,” Tobias said. “They served us tough, and our passing was not good at all. On the other side of the net, they ran their offense very well. Defensively, our block wasn't there and we were kind of in knee-jerk reaction mode. We weren't low (in the back line) or anticipating (their attacks). They hit the ball extremely well and took it to us.”
While Messiah's offense was respectable — 35 kills on 90 swings, an attack percentage of .189 — it was simply not enough to keep pace with E'Town's remarkable numbers, as the Blue Jays had only five attack errors while posting no service errors.
The Falcons' 26 digs and two assist blocks were simply too few and far between to limit Elizabethtown's dominant hitting display, as Messiah forced just one tie score — a 1-1 tally at the start of the third set — on the evening.
“I think our youth hadn't shown lately, but it certainly showed tonight,” Tobias said of her team comprised of eight sophomores and three freshmen to go with just one senior and one junior. “I wasn't expecting that, because it hadn't shown for so long. So the real question is, did E'Town take us out of it that much, or did we just really tank on our own? I think it was a combination of the two, like I said. They were really, really good tonight, and we were really bad.”
Freshman Lauren Rees led Messiah with 12 kills on 29 attempts (a .241 hitting clip), while sophomores Cassy Diamond and Brynn Letteiri each had six kills. Diamond hit at .235 and Letteiri posted her six kills on just nine swings (en route to a .556 hitting clip), but no other player hit better than .167, posting no more than five kills on the night.
Messiah also hurt itself with nine service errors and three blocking errors, generating four service aces to Elizabethtown's six.
Senior setter Lauren Bourdon played her final match in a Messiah uniform in the loss, charting 29 assists despite having to be mobile throughout. She finished with six digs on the night. Sophomore Megan Wise led the team with seven.
“Lauren Bourdon's best attribute is her work ethic,” said Deb Rutter, Messiah assistant coach. “It is a shame that we just didn't play good volleyball in her last match.”
Post-season awards will be announced in the coming days and weeks. Check back to this site for the latest in Messiah volleyball off-season news and information.
