After nearly two hours and 30 minutes, one final swing of
Abigail Oswari's right arm propelled the Muhlenberg Mules past Centennial Conference rival Washington College by a score of 3-2.
It was the conclusion of a back-and-forth defensive battle that began with a point that contained more than 30 touches by both teams combined. That point, which made the score 5-3 in favor of the visiting Shorewomen, was a precursor to what was to come. A few points later, Mules head coach
Rob McVicker called a timeout with his team down 10-5. That ignited an 11-4 Muhlenberg run that featured three kills and four service aces, three from
Maddy Budris and one from
Lizzie Steinkamp.
The visitors would retake a 5-point lead at 23-18, but the hosts then stormed back once more to take the set 26-24 in overtime.
Andrea Romero-Agosto dealt the finishing blows with back-to-back putaways to take the set advantage and a block assist on the winning point (along with
Kelliann Keogh).
The five-point differential was the largest of the entire match, and the latter half of the set was indicative of how the rest of the contest would go. The Shorewomen outhit (hitting percentages of .238 to .153) and outblocked (12.0 total blocks to 5.0) the Mules, but the hosts held such a significant advantage in the service game that it didn't matter. They totaled 12 aces to the visitors' five and seven service errors to their 14.
Chloe Gaglione (
pictured), Muhlenberg's libero for all five sets, finished with a team-high four aces while the aforementioned Budris had three.
There were many spectacular diving saves throughout the match, but a touch by Keogh stands out; after a wayward dig went more than 10 feet out of bounds on the other side of the net, the senior raced over and hit it back to Muhlenberg's side to continue the point.
Steinkamp led the Mules in kills with 14 in one of the best performances of her young career. The rookie made just one attack error and hit .433 while tacking on eight digs.
Oswari finished second on the team in putaways with 13 while Romero-Agosto had 11. Keogh and
Olivia Bruno paced the Mules in blocks with 1.5, both totaling three block assists. Lastly,
Jenny Ryan totaled 31 assists, two off her season high of 33.
With the victory, the Muhlenberg volleyball team moves to 29-5 all-time against Washington College.
