By Mel Barracato, Staff Writer
Susquehanna women’s volleyball finished the 12th annual Hampton Inn River Hawk Classic Volleyball tournament at 1–2 to move their overall record to 6–6 as they lost to both Stevenson College and Carnegie Mellon but defeated Brockport College in Selinsgrove. They came off a 3-1 loss to Stevenson on Friday, Sept. 15 , dropped 3–0 to Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, Sept. 16 and got the win against Brockport 3–1 on the last game of the day on Saturday.
Susquehanna posted the first set win at 25–21 against Stevenson but could not come back to win as Stevenson took the next three sets with scores of 25–17, 25–23, and 25–20. Senior Morgan Lowe had her third 20-kill performance and had 10 digs for a double-double in the loss.
Sophomore Kasey Bost added 11 digs while junior Tara Mahoney had seven blocks. Freshman Gabby Davis and senior Julie Kreutzer had 13 and 16 assists as they split the evening at the setter position.
“We continue to struggle with consistency and the right positive energy when we need it,” head coach Kuuipo Tom said. Saturday featured a win and a loss for the River Hawks as they started out losing to Carnegie Mellon in sets of 25–16, 25–13, and 25–22. Lowe had 10 kills and 15 digs in the loss.
In the second game of the day, and last game of the tournament, the River Hawks were able to beat Brockport 3–1. Susquehanna gave up the first set at a score of 26–24 but came back to win the next three sets all with scores of 25–23. Lowe once again led Susquehanna with 15 kills and Mahoney added five blocks. Freshman Lizzie Herestofa and sophomore Caroline Beohm had 12 digs and three aces apiece. Sophomore Han- nah Lyons had 13 kills and freshman Sydney Portale had 11. Freshman Helen Forman tallied 37 assists in the match. Lowe was named to the All- Tournament team along with several other players from the four respective schools that played in the tournament during the weekend.
“It was great to see Hannah Lyons step up,” added Coach Tom. “Sydney Portale really stepped up in the final set as well.”
The River Hawks face Johns Hopkins this Saturday, Sept. 23rd at home. “Johns Hopkins will be the best team we play this season,” said Coach Tom. “We’ve played them regularly, and over the last couple years they’ve been a force to be reckoned with.”
“I anticipate they will be one of the top teams in the nation at the end of the season,” added Coach Tom of Johns Hopkins. “We’re going to focus on our process and the principles we govern in our gym and make things happen.”
Johns Hopkins currently sits at 8-2 on the season and comes into Selinsgrove off of a strong 3-0 win against conference-foe Goucher. The team has not dropped a set since Sept. 8 when they played nationally ranked Mary Washington and took home the victory 3-1.
Elizabeth Wuerstle led the Blue Jays with 11 kills.
Game time for the Johns Hopkins match is at 12 p.m. and will be the first conference game of the season for Susquehanna.
