WENHAM, Mass. — The Curry Women's Volleyball Team battled conference foe Gordon throughout a four-set match before falling 3-1 Tuesday evening in Wenham.
The Scots looked like they would run away with the match early on by going on an 11-4 run to end the first set. Curry forced the Scots into several errors to keep things close at the beginning of the first set, but Gordon's precision on attacks at the net made the difference in a 25-18 win.
Momentum remained in Gordon's favor well into the second set, with the Scots leading by as many as seven points midway through the game. However, the Colonels slowly chipped away at the Scots' lead little by little to turn a 16-7 deficit into a tie game at 23 points a side.
The Colonels' setter Hannah Robison served for the win over the final three points, including a service ace on the final point of the set, completing the furious rally to even the score at one.
Gordon regained control of the match in the third set thanks to the serving of sophomore Jessica Burdick (Brewerton, N.Y.). The outside hitter turned a 14-14 tie into a 22-14 lead with four service aces, while also getting help from her teammates. A block from Jenna Labbadia (Berlin, Conn.) and a kill from Laura Schmidt (Stuart, Fla.) also contributed to the Scots lead in the third set.
The Scots won three of the final five points—winning 25-16—to take a one-set lead in the match.
Gordon trailed for much of the fourth set, but rallied late to take a 24-20 lead. Not to be outdone, the Colonels won the next two points to cut the Scots' lead to two points and forced Gordon to take a timeout on match point.
Armed with a set play out of the timeout, the Scots executed the play perfectly finishing with a Schmidt kill off a Lauren Kranyak (Locust Grove, Va.) pass to finish off the match, 25-22.
Emily Boudreau had six kills and three service aces for the Colonels. Robison chipped in 11 assists, while Alyssa Keeney led the defense with 15 digs on the back line.
Six Gordon players contributed at least six kills, including Faith Gerdes (Wall Lake, Iowa), Burdick and senior Chelsie Clemens (Santa Barbara, Calif.), who finished with a season high eight kills.
Aside from Burdick's four service aces, Krystal Vander Ark (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Labbadia and Kranyak all added three aces as well.
Joy Kimmel (Madison, Conn.) led the Scots with 22 assists, while Kranyak added 17 assists of her own. Freshman libero Maggie Risma (Hudson, Ohio) dug up 29 balls, which was her second highest total of the year.
Gordon looks to stay alive in the CCC race in their regular season finale with Eastern Nazarene in Quincy on Saturday. Curry will also face the Lions this coming Thursday night for the conference closer.
