SCRANTON, Pa. – The fifth-seeded Moravian College volleyball team was eliminated from the Landmark Conference tournament after a 3-1 loss at No. 4 The University of Scranton in first round action on Tuesday night.
The Greyhounds' (12-22) season comes to a close with a 25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-12 setback to the Royals, who advance to take on No. 1 seed and perennial tournament champion Juniata College on Friday.
"They were a good service team and we were out of system the whole match, and that hurt us tonight," head coach Shelley Bauder said. "The passes weren't making it to the net and we couldn't execute our offense. Overall, our offense was not as efficient as it needed to be in order to win in the playoffs."
Freshman middle hitter Taylor Kornmann hit a season-high .615 with 17 kills and only one error and senior setter Kelly Brown recorded 33 assists and 15 digs to cap a phenomenal Moravian career.
Two other Greyhound seniors had memorable nights in their last match wearing the Blue and Grey. Opposite hitter Katelynn Strohl finished the match with nine digs and an ace, and went on a five-point service run late in the second game to help the Hounds close a deficit.
Middle blocker Brittany O'Hara picked up a block on Tuesday and moved into sole possession of fifth place for career total blocks in Moravian history.
"These three seniors played most of the matches during the last four years," Bauder said. "They were a key part of this team. We'll miss them on and off the court. We're looking forward to filling the holes that the seniors leave and everyone working hard in the offseason and getting back on track for a winning record next year."
Kornmann's .615 hitting percentage is the fifth highest in a four-set match in school history and the highest since Mary King hit .760 against Washington (Md.) College.
The first set was a story of well-timed runs. The Greyhounds and Royals fought to a 14-14 tie before Scranton won seven of the next nine points. Moravian responded with a four-point run of their own with two kills from sophomore middle hitter Victoria Bobyak and consistent serving from sophomore outside hitter Lauren Hostetler.
The Royals won the next three points to set up a triple set-point. Sophomore opposite hitter Lauren Piccinich picked up a kill and Kornmann and junior outside hitter Kelianne Comitalo came up with a block to cut the lead to 24-22, but the next point was won by Scranton, who took a 1-0 lead.
Scranton took the momentum into the second game, getting out to a 24-11 lead. A kill by Kornmann gave Moravian the side out and Strohl took the service line for five straight points, aided by two more Kornmann kills and kills by Hostetler and Comitalo. Scranton stopped the run and took the second set 25-17.
A series of errors helped the Greyhounds get out to a 14-5 lead in the third set. O'Hara picked up two kills in the game, including the clincher to force a fourth set, while Kornmann had five kills in the 25-19 set win.
Moravian used a 5-1 run in the fourth game to tie the score at 8-8, but Scranton answered with nine straight points to give the Greyhounds a tough hole to climb out of. The Royals rolled to a 25-13 win to clinch the first round match and advance to the semifinals.
The Greyhounds registered nine blocks in the match, with Kornmann leading the way with a solo stop and five assists.
Brown ends her Moravian career as the third best setter statistically in school history, despite not playing the position her freshman year. She became the third member of the 3,000 Assist Club this season and will graduate with 3,679 career assists. Her 1,558 career digs will go down as the fourth best total in the record books, and her 486 sets played is the second most all-time.
