HCC Women’s Volleyball Rocks Lackawana’s World, Takes Three Straight

From the HCC Sports Desk…

BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford women’s volleyball team won its third straight match, as it blanked Lackawanna, 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-14) on Tuesday night at Harford Gymnasium.

The Fighting Owls (9-14) hit just .085 for the match, but tallied 25 aces in the victory over the Falcons (3-13).

Freshman Selena Ortega-Marvel (Elkton, Md./Rising Sun) led the way, tallying 10 kills on 23 attacks with just two errors for a .348 hitting percentage, while sophomore Brielle Webster (Havre de Grace, Md./Havre de Grace) and freshmen Ashlyn Tapler (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) and Ashley Huntley (Fallston, Md./Loch Rave) notched six aces apiece. Webster also added 20 assists, while freshman Tara Knotts (Jarresttsville, Md./North Harford) totaled 14 digs.

Harford struggled to start each set, giving Lackawanna at least a 3-0 advantage to start off each set, but would eventually rally back in a match that saw 10 total ties and nine lead changes, including five in the third and final set.

The Falcons took a 3-0 lead in set one but an attack error made the score 6-3 in favor of Lackawanna and set up a 10-point serving run behind Tapler, which saw five aces to give the Owls the 13-6 lead which they would not relinquish for the rest of the game on the way to 25-18 set win.

Set two started much the same, but this time Lackawanna took a 4-0 lead and it would not be until Tapler earned the serve after yet another Falcon error at 20-19, that Harford would take its first lead. The Owls saw two consecutive points behind Tapler’s serve to take a 21-20 lead, but it would be short lived as a kill by Angie Lochard set up Kara Robinson to serve for two points and give Lackawanna the lead once again, 23-21.

Sophomore Marie Fox (Edgewood, Md./Edgewood) sparked a four-point run for the Owls with a solo block before serving for three consecutive points to give Harford the 25-23 set win.

Set three was the closest set of the night between the Falcons and the Owls, but started in the same fashion with Lackawanna up, 3-0. After a Falcon service error to make the score 5-2, Huntley rattled off three aces in a row and served for an additional point to give Harford the lead, 6-5, but an attack error by Huntley and Falcon ace put Lackawanna up, 7-6.

Ortega-Marvel knotted the score at seven with a kill from Webster, only to watch Robinson give the Falcons an 8-7 advantage.

Fox looked to give the Owls a substantial cushion after a kill and a four-point serving run that saw two aces to give the Owls the 12-8 lead, but after the teams traded points, Lackawanna put up its own four-point serving run after a Harford error to take the 14-13 lead.

The next play however, which resulted in a kill by sophomore Kelsey Sullivan (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) from Knotts to knot the score at 14, proved to be the deciding factor as Webster served out the final 11 points, which included six aces, to give Harford the 25-14 set and match win.

The Fighting Owls return to competition on Thursday, when they travel to Anne Arundel for a 6:00 p.m. match.

Short Box Score (Match)
2008 Harford Volleyball
Lackawanna vs Harford (Oct 21, 2008 at Bel Air, Md.)
Harford def. Lackawanna 25-18,25-23,25-14
Lackawanna (3-13) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Robinson, Kara 5-0-1; Lochard,
Angie 2-5-1; Iyoob, Carissa 2-0-0; Glover, Courtney 1-0-0; Wickizer,
Jessica 0-1-0; Dixon, Crystal 0-3-0; Cayhil, Katie 0-1-0; Totals
10-10-2.0. (Assists) – . (Dig leaders) – Dixon, Crystal 9; Cayhil,
Katie 7
Harford (9-14) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Ortega-Marvel, Selen 10-1-0;
Sullivan, Kelsey 8-1-0; Fox, Marie 4-5-1; Tapler, Ashlyn 3-6-0;
Bizzell, Erica 2-0-0; Huntley, Ashley 0-6-0; Webster, Brielle 0-6-0;
Totals 27-25-1.0. (Assists) – Webster, Brielle 20. (Dig leaders) –
Knotts, Tara 14; Webster, Brielle 7
Site: Bel Air, Md. (Harford Gym)
Date: Oct 21, 2008 Attend: 34 Time: 1:00
Referees: Terri Looney, Joe Schmitz