Women's Volleyball had been off to a hot start, despite a new head coach and returning only one starter. However, their biggest challenge yet came on Saturday, when they traveled to Harrisburg Area Community College. Saturday's match was a tri-match, meaning that three teams come to the same location and each team plays the other two teams once. In this case, volleyball took on Bucks County Community College and Harrisburg Area Community College in Harrisburg.
First, the Mustangs took on Bucks. The first set was fairly close, with Bucks grabbing the win 25-16. The second set ended similarly, with a 25-15 score. With their backs against the wall, the Mustangs battled in the third set, but ultimately came up just short, dropping the set 25-22.
Errors played a huge part in the Mustangs' first loss of the season, as the team recorded 17 errors in this first match. Those 17 errors were 3 more than their previous two games combined. Despite the loss however, Montgomery still played well defensively, recording 29 digs, highlighted by Laura Reeser's (SO, Hatfield) 8.
The Mustangs were looking for redemption in their second match, this time against the home team, Harrisburg Area Community College. However, the first match seemed to deflate Montgomery and they carried that into the first set, dropping it 25-17. All momentum was gone from the first two matches of the season. A difficult second set ended in a 25-2 loss.
To their credit, even after an incredibly tough second set the Mustangs still managed to battle back. A strong offense from Miljana Vukoslavovik (FR, Serbia) and Molly McCarthy (FR, Souderton), who combined for five kills in the third set alone, caused the Mustangs to rally. They continued their tough defense, this time highlighted by Rebecca Godshall's (FR, Souderton) 12 digs. However, Harrisburg pulled just ahead at the end and took a 25-22 win.
These are the first two losses for the Mustangs, despite sweeping their first two opponents of the season. They were also the last two games of a four game road stretch for the Mustangs, who are looking forward to their home opener on Wednesday. Wednesday's match will be against Brookdale and will take place at 7pm.