Seniors Dominate as Gallaudet Defeats Catholic in Three Games

As Gallaudet celebrated their careers, Seniors Brittany Ellenbecker, Ludmila Mounty-Weinstock, Katelyn Reese, and Ursa Rewolinski put on a show for their fans, as Gallaudet had no trouble with Catholic University, winning 3-0, for their sixth win in seven matches.

Gallaudet got off to a slow start. They went up 3-0 on three errors by Catholic, but gave the lead back with four errors of their own. After Catholic scored again to go up 5-3, Gallaudet Coach Lynn Ray Boren called a time-out that proved to be effective leading to three kills by Rewolinski (who finished with 11 kills), an ace by Reese, followed by a kill by Amanda Kreiger. This led to a Catholic time-out and the score 11-6. But the time-out didn't slow down the Bison, as Krieger responded with a solo block, Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Week Mounty-Weinstock followed with a kill, and Catholic, after several mistakes, was down 17-6. Thanks to 12 straight serves by Seibert, Gallaudet built a formidable lead, and Gallaudet won the first set 25-8.

Gallaudet continued playing flawlessly in the second game, led by Seibert's serving, and went up 9-3, which led to another time-out by Catholic. Gallaudet was on cruise control where they found scores coming to them. Catholic called another time-out with the score 18-6, but this didn't stop the Bison as they continued to cruise to a 25-7 win.

After a sentimental senior recognition ceremony between the second and third games, Boren decided to put Ellenbecker at her favorite position, outside hitter, in which she made her first kill of the night and then another. Mounty-Weinstock was fired up and made two kills, finishing with 8 for the match, along with 3 solo blocks. Reese followed suit and made several kills and finished with six for the match. Catholic, seemingly intimidated by Gallaudet's seniors, called a time-out with Gallaudet leading 13-7. Freshman Paige Johnson (33 assists) enjoyed the third game as a setter, finding her hitters easily as the seniors were on fire and Justine Jeter was consistent defensively, totally 11 kills for the match. Rewolinski made several impressive kills, contributing to the growth of Gallaudet's lead. Jeter ended the match with an impressive kill, ending the match 25-17.

Boren said this is the first time in a while the players have played loose. "The players have been very tense, and I was glad to see them relax and have fun out there today." This weekend, the Bison travel to Scranton where they will play Scranton and Lebanon Valley.  Both teams have over 20 wins on the season. "This will be a big test for us this weekend. If we do well it will help us do well the next two weeks of the season."

Boren also praised his seniors. "Brittany and Ursa have sacrificed a lot for the program. I have a lot of respect for them. They have done whatever we needed them to do. Luda has been with me for 8 years. 4 years at MSSD and 4 years at Gallaudet. I've seen her grow from a tiny girl to where she is now. Katelyn was tough to recruit but I'm glad she came to Gallaudet. She doesn't look intimidating and she's not very tall, but she plays like a six-footer. She never played on a Deaf team before, so I'm glad she had a chance to come to Gallaudet and play for us."

  *Rachel Benedict contributed to this article*