BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Northampton Volleyball team overcame a 2-1 deficit to come back and down Sandhills Community College 3-2 in the NJCAA District H Championship match on Saturday afternoon at the Arthur L. Scott Spartan Center.
The Spartans, who lost to the Flyers, 3-0. earlier in the season at the FIT Invitational, won the first set 25-20, before dropping the second set 21-25 and third set 20-25. The Spartans then regrouped to win the 4th set 25-22 and then claimed the title with a thrilling 18-16 5th set victory.
Northampton led 14-12 in the 5th set, only to see Sandhills score 3 straight points to take a 15-14 advantage. The Spartans tied it at 15-15, then took a 16-15 lead, only to see Sandhills tie it up again, at 16-16. Northampton then rattled off 2 straight points for the heart-stopping victory.
Alysce Molchan (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame - Green Pond ) had 51 assists and
Katrina Shelly (Lancaster, PA/Hempfield ) notched 18 kills, 3 blocks and 10 digs as the 10th ranked Spartans improved to 25-4.
Taylor Womack (Effort, PA/Pocono Mt. East ) had 13 kills,
Bridget Crimi (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame - Green Pond ) recorded 19 digs,
Emily Petrat (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom ) contributed 6 kills, 3 aces, and 4 blocks and
Laura Sweger (Elizabethville, PA/Upper Dauphin) added 7 kills and 4 blocks.
The win propels the Spartans to the NJCAA National Tournament in Rochester, Minnesota on November 10th and 11th.
The national tournament trip will be the 3rd in a row for the Spartans, and 4th in 5 years.
