Baltimore, Md. - McDaniel relied on a balanced offense to beat the Gators of Notre Dame (Md.). The Green Terror battled through four sets for their first win of the 2022 campaign.

The night started off with a 25-23 win for the Green Terror in the first set that featured 14 ties. Both teams struggled to find their offense early, but McDaniel, relying on Allyson Burgee and Nia Roberts kept pace with the Gators until Tatiana Hamilton went back to serve trailing 23-22. She rattled off three straight points, and McDaniel was able to come away with the victory. 

The second set began with Nia Roberts pushing McDaniel out to an early lead with back-to-back kills. The Pacers regrouped and made a run of their own to take the lead 13-12. Angalyn Strouse found a leaping Mackenzie Mitchell who connected for the kill and tied the game back up. Strouse stood out with a balanced performance of 10 digs and nine kills. After an outstanding ace by Burgee, McDaniel had stretched the lead back to three. A few costly mistakes later and the Gators were right back in it. Gabbi Taganas led Notre Dame (Md.) on a four point run to take the second set 25-20. Freshman Jayda Patterson and Nia Roberts showed up in the third set for the Green Terror offense. With McDaniel down 17-14 and the Gators gaining momentum, Roberts connected on a pair of kills to keep them within reach. As the tide started to turn freshman Jayda Patterson added a pair of kills and McDaniel pulled out the third set 25-20.

As the fourth set began Notre Dame (Md.) jumped out to an early 9-1 lead. After a kill by Burgee, sophomore Kathy Taveras went back to serve. Taveras rallied McDaniel with a seven-point run including an ace to bring the Green Terror all the way back. Both teams battled and multiple lead changes occurred over the next several minutes. With the score tied at 20, Lauren Guyer found Burgee for another kill to take the lead. Strouse followed that up with two kills of her own set up by Samantha Fadel who had a trio of assists along with her team high 19 digs. The Gators responded scoring back-to-back points to take a 25-24 lead. McDaniel freshman Jayda Patterson came up big once again as she connected on a pass from Tatiana Hamilton to take back the lead and the Green Terror went on to win 27-25.

McDaniel heads to St. David's, Pa. for the Eastern Tournament this weekend. Their first match is against Elizabethtown on Friday at 5 P.M.