Tim McMahon is congratulated by Acting Director of Athletics Chris Monfiletto after McMahon won his school-record tying 144th win on Wednesday.
Tim McMahon (left) is congratulated by Acting Director of Athletics Chris Monfiletto (right) after McMahon won his school-record tying 144th match on Wednesday.

Women's Volleyball

McMahon ties school wins mark as Warriors upset Blue Jays, 3-2

Box Score Box Score

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The statistics from the Lycoming College volleyball team’s five-set win over preseason Commonwealth Conference favorite Elizabethtown on Wednesday night, Sept. 28, jump out. As they should, because the Warriors outlasted the Blue Jays, 18-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 15-10, in a major upset over a team that reached the last five conference finals and helped Lycoming College head coach Tim McMahon tie the school’s all-time wins mark with his 144th career win.

McMahon, in his 11th year, tied the mark set by Sonny Kirkpatrick from 1992-99. Like Kirkpatrick, McMahon has taken the Warriors to two NCAA Division III Tournaments (2004 and 2006).

The Warriors (6-6 overall, 2-1 Commonwealth) were led by a triple-double from sophomore Katelyn McKillop (Mount Pocono, Pa./Pocono Mountain West), as she notched a career-high 10 kills to go with 52 assists and 15 digs, a double-double from freshman Amber Seibel (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette), who notched a career-high 18 kills and 26 digs, and a career-high 23 kills, five digs and three blocks from junior Jackie Oliva (Barnesville, Pa./Mahoney Area).

The team also got double-figure kills from sophomore Shelby Gear (Rochester, N.Y./Gates-Chili), who posted 13 to go with three blocks. Freshman libero Kristen Whitehead (Avon, Ohio/Avon) notched 23 digs and sophomore Kassidy Sedore (Stormville, N.Y./Spackenkill) added 12 digs. Sophomore Shaina Preiss (East Hampton, N.Y./East Hampton) added three aces and seven digs to help the  Warriors snap a six-match skid against Elizabethtown.

The Blue Jays (4-10 overall, 1-2 Commonwealth) were led by 16 kills a piece from Kelsey Hayes and Lindsay Palm and Katie Gantz added 11 kills, 17 digs and three blocks. Carolyn Lukiewski added 42 assists and 16 digs and Andrea Weaver posted 24 digs.

After Elizabethtown took the first set, the Warriors took a 15-11 lead in the second before the Blue Jays fought back to tie it at 15. With the score tied at 20, though, Oliva notched three straight kills to help the Warriors take control and hold on for the 25-23 win.

In the third set, the Warriors came back from a 23-16 deficit to close within two points at 23-21, but Kelsey Hays posted a pair of kills for the Blue Jays to cap the 25-22 win. In the fourth set, though, the Warriors took over, taking a 13-4 lead before the Blue Jays came back within two points. That was as close as they could get though, and three kills from Oliva helped close out the set, 25-22, in favor of the Warriors.

In the deciding fifth set, Oliva started the set with a pair of kills to help it take a 4-0 lead and Lycoming grew the lead to 11-4 before stemming off a late charge from the Blue Jays with Oliva spiking down a free ball to close out the 15-10 win.

The Warriors get back on the court on Saturday when they head to King’s College for the Middle Atlantic Conference Crossover quad-match, facing Freedom Conference foes Manhattanville at 10 a.m. before taking on King’s at noon.
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