Gettysburg, PA, (9/6/2008)– The Gallaudet University women's volleyball team won two matches Saturday in the Battlefield Classic at Gettysburg College, breaking a four-match losing streak and evening its season record at 4-4.

The Bison lost on Friday to Centennial Conference pre-season favorite Johns Hopkins University, 25-23, 14-25, 19-25, 25-22, 13-15, and to State University at New York-Cortland, 10-25, 22-25, 25-17, 23-25.

The Hopkins match Friday afternoon was a thriller. Gallaudet won the first set, 25-23, behind eight kills by junior Justine Jeter. The Blue Jays raced to a 6-1 lead in the second set, with sophomore Brittany Zimmer recording three of her five aces. The Bison were held to five kills. In the third set, Gallaudet led 6-5 and 17-16, but Hopkins scored nine of the final 11 points to win, 25-19. The Bison overcame the Blue Jays' early six-point lead and won the fourth set, 25-22, to even the match at two sets apiece. In the deciding final set, the Bison tied the Blue Jays 12-all, then succumbed, 15-13 on an Alex Zenoff kill. Overall, Hopkins won three matches and lost one, and is now 7-1 for the season.

Jeter led the Bison attack with 13 kills, followed by senior Katelyn Reese with 10 and junior Amanda Krieger with nine. Junior Amy Siebert had seven service aces, and Reese had four. Freshman setter Paige Johnson had 41 assists and 19 digs. Reese and senior Ludmila Mounty-Weinstock each had one block solo and one block assist.

SUNY-Cortland's Michelle Gaufman had 22 kills to pace the Red Dragons (6-2) over the Bison in Friday evening play. The Bison had an abysmal eight percent hitting average in the first set and lost 25-10. In the second set, all 22 of Gallaudet's points came off kills as sophomore Nukeitra Hayes, Justine Jeter, Amanda Krieger, and Ludmila Mounty-Weinstock each had four, and senior Ursa Rewolinski and Paige Johnson had three. In the third set, the Bison had robust 44 percent hitting, but only four kills; defensive miscues were Cortland's undoing. Cortland took the deciding fourth set, 23-25, to win the match. Like Hopkins, Cortland won three and lost one; its win on Sunday against Lycoming College was fourth-year coach Pam Hoerup's 100th career victory.

Krieger paced the Bison with 13 kills, followed by Jeter with eight. Krieger also contributed 13 defensive digs. Mounty-Weinstock had four service aces and four block assists. Hayes had four block solos and three block assists. Amy Siebert had three service aces and 11 digs. Johnson had 31 assists.

On Saturday, the Bison were repooled with William McDaniel College and Eastern Mennonite University. Smarting from four consecutive losses, the team regrouped and defeated McDaniel, 25-15, 25-17, 16-25, 25-23. Amanda Krieger recorded 14 kills; Ludmila Mounty-Weinstock added nine and Justine Jeter eight. Amy Siebert tallied four service aces, and Mounty-Weinstock and Paige Johnson had three each. Johnson had 39 assists and recorded her first-ever block solo. McDaniel is now 4-3 on the season.

Justine Jeter's 15 kills led the Bison to a 25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 25-11 win over Eastern Mennonite University (3-6). Katelyn Reese had four service aces, five block solos, and one block assist. Ludmila Mounty-Weinstock contributed 10 kills and four block assists. Paige Johnson had 41 assists for a tournament total of 152. Amy Siebert's 19 digs gave her a team-high 66 for the four-set tournament.

Ludmila Mounty-Weinstock was named to the all-tournament team, duplicating her feat the weekend before at the Haverford College Volleyball Invitational.

Eastern University and Capital Athletic Conference nemesis Salisbury University each won four matches during the 18-team Battlefield Classic. Frostburg State University, Johns Hopkins, and SUNY-Cortland each posted 3-1 records. Gallaudet was one of eight teams at 2-2.

The Bison travel to Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia for their first CAC contest Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

*special thanks to Bob Weinstock for compiling this report