The Lancaster Bible men's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Saturday as the Chargers lost in five sets to Bluefield and then were swept in the nightcap by Cairn, 3-0. The Chargers are now 1-8 this season as they begin North Eastern Athletic Conference play next weekend.

Bluefield 3, Lancaster Bible 2
26-28, 25-20, 18-25, 25-23, 16-14

The Chargers let a 2-1 advantage slip away as the NAIA Rams fought back to win in five sets. After a thrilling victory in the first set, the Chargers lost the second set, 25-20, but rebounded to comfortably win the third set, 25-18. The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair that saw both teams earn and lose momentum several times. Lancaster Bible had its best chance to put the clamps on the match when it led 17-13, but Bluefield rattled off six of the next eight points to tie the match at 19-19 and force a Lancaster Bible timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Chargers won the next two points to take a 21-19 lead. The Rams, after their own timeout, scored the next three points to take a 22-21 lead. After another Lancaster Bible timeout, the Chargers tied the game at 22-22, but the Rams held their ground and after their final timeout of the set, Bluefield won three of the final four points and earned a 25-23 victory to force a fifth and deciding set.

Bluefield took an early 4-1 lead in the fifth set, but the Chargers worked their way back into the set and eventually took a 12-11 lead thanks to a TJ Forsythe kill. The Rams once again cut Lancaster Bible's momentum short as they won three of the next four points and earned a match point at 14-13. After a Lancaster Bible timeout, the Chargers tied the match at 14-14, but back-to-back errors spelled doom for Lancaster Bible as the Rams completed the comeback victory and won the fifth set, 16-14.

Forsythe had a team-high 16 kills for the Chargers and added 10 digs and seven aces, while Nathan Diehl had 11 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Derek Bigley had eight kills and 11 digs and senior Paul Fulbright had one of his best matches with five kills, 37 assists and a block. Caleb Strite chipped in with five kills, three blocks and two aces. As a team, Lancaster Bible had 12 aces which is the sixth most in program history.

Cairn 3, Lancaster Bible 0
25-17, 25-19, 25-19

Lancaster Bible's second match of the day didn't go five sets, but the Chargers put forth a much better effort against the Highlanders than they did a week ago in Langhorne, Pa. Cairn controlled play for much of the three sets, but the Chargers were able to create offense at many points of the match and extended several points by playing good defense.

Forsythe once again led the way with five kills, while Fulbright, Diehl, Strite and Alex Woelkers all had three kills. Freshman Justin Stoltzfus had a match-high 11 digs, while Strite had a match-high four blocks.

The Chargers return to the court next Saturday when they open NEAC play against Keuka and Penn St. Altoona. Lancaster Bible will host the Wolfpack at 2 p.m. and take on the Nittany Lions at 6 p.m. Keuka and Penn St. Altoona will meet at 4 p.m.