WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Three weeks after falling in extra time in a five-set thriller, the Lycoming College volleyball team will travel to Widener University for the first Commonwealth Conference Playoffs play-in match on Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. at the Schwartz Athletic Center.
 
In the match three weeks ago, the Warriors (21-12 overall, 5-4 Commonwealth) got a breakthrough performance from freshman Bethany Richardson (York, Pa./West York), as she posted 20 kills and 11 digs and hit .486. The Warriors and Pride (16-15 overall, 6-3 Commonwealth) fought evenly through the deciding fifth set, with neither team grabbing a two-point advantage until the Pride posted the 16^th and final point in the 16-14 win. At the end of the regular season, those two points helped mark the difference between Lycoming’s No. 5 seed and Widener’s No. 4.
 
This time around, the Warriors will look for a complement to Richardson on the front row, and will do so in the form of senior middle hitter Jackie Oliva (Barnesville, Pa./Mahanoy Area) and junior right side Shelby Gear (Rochester, N.Y./Gates-Chili).
 
Richardson leads the team with 2.81 kills per set, the most amongst conference freshmen, and the all-around player has also added 2.08 digs per set. The 5-8 outside hitter has turned the pressure up during conference matches 3.19 kills and is hitting .275.
 
Meanwhile, both Oliva and Gear will be key to the team’s chances of winning, with both averaging 2.28 kills per set and both in the top 10 in the conference in hitting percentage. Oliva is fifth at .283 and Gear is eighth at .273.
 
Mixing into the hitter slots are sophomore Kylee Sutton (Wysox, Pa./Towanda Area) and junior Chelsee Strine (South Boardman, Mich./Forest Area). Sutton, in her first year with the team, has improved throughout the year, averaging 1.27 kills, 1.07 digs and 0.52 blocks per set. Strine, who stepped into the lineup after an injury to sophomore Amber Seibel (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette), has filled in well, averaging 1.43 kills and 2.07 digs per set.
 
Junior Katelyn McKillop (Mount Pocono, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) will set up the hitters, after the junior enjoyed the finest season of her career, averaging career-highs of 8.81 assists, 0.45 service aces and 3.18 digs per set and she had a solid game against Widener the first time, posting 43 assists, four aces and 17 digs.
 
In the libero slot, the Warriors will turn to sophomore Kristin Whitehead (Avon, Ohio/Avon), who leads the team and is fifth in the league with 4.82 digs per set.  Also on the backrow, the team will look to defensive specialists, sophomore Laura Cinicola (Tamacqua, Pa./Marian Catholic) and junior Cortney Tice (Canton, Pa./Canton) to help keep the ball of the floor, as Cinicola averages 1.23 digs per set and Tice adds 1.83 digs per set.
 
 
Angela DeMaria leads the Pride, as she averaged 2.65 kills per set and Kaitlin Schnalzer, who had 18 kills against the Warriors, adds an average of 2.37. Setter Maggie Greenberg posts 9.07 assists per set and libero Meghan Spence leads the league with 5.98 digs per set.
 
Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for students and free for those under age six. The winner of Wednesday’s match visits top-seeded Stevenson on Friday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m.