The Lancaster Bible College women's volleyball team returned home for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday night and lost to Messiah, 3-0 at Horst Athletic Center. The loss drops the Chargers to 5-9 this season, while the Falcons improved to 15-2.

How it Happened: Messiah jumped on the Chargers quickly in the first set as the Falcons took an early 6-1 lead and eventually increased their lead to 14-7 midway through the opening set. Lancaster Bible cut the deficit to five at 15-10 after back-to-back errors from the Falcons, but the Chargers wouldn't get any closer as Messiah strung four points together late in the set and won, 25-16. 

The second set began the same way as the first as Messiah took a quick 6-1 lead and after a service error, won the next four points to lead 10-2. The Chargers closed the gap to 16-11 later in the set, but Messiah rattled off seven straight points to increase its lead to 23-11 and eventually won the set, 25-13.

The third set was much closer as the teams battled back-and-forth the entire time. Lancaster Bible took an early 5-2 lead, but Messiah tied the match at 7-7 and then took a 13-9 lead a few points later as the Falcons earned four straight points on four straight kills, three of them coming from Jane Underman. The Chargers would tie the match at 17-17 later in the set thanks to kills from Erin Harkey and Alyssa Bowen and then took a 20-19 lead a few points later on an ace from Hannah Gipe. With the match tied at 21-21, Messiah won two straight points thanks to a kill from Mary Underman and a Lancaster Bible error. Messiah closed the match with its 10th ace of the evening as Jane Underman clinched the victory for the Falcons.

By the Numbers: Messiah led the Chargers in kills, 41-21 and digs, 48-35...The Chargers were led by Bowen's nine kills, while Emily Olson had five kills...Allison Shuey had 18 assists and Myranda Kemrer added 10 digs...Hannah Thompson had nine digs as well for Lancaster Bible and Hannah Gipe chipped in with two kills, two aces and seven digs...Jane Underman led everyone with 13 kills.

The Coach Says: "We need to pick up our pace of play and do a better job passing the ball," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Lauren Bewley said. "Messiah is a quality team and if we make improvements and perform to our potential, this type of match will help us in conference play."

Information Hodge Podge: Lancaster Bible is 0-7 all-time against Messiah...The Falcons are now 12-1 away from home this season...Lancaster Bible is just 1-3 this season at Horst Athletic Center.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible hosts North Eastern Athletic Conference opponent SUNY Polytechnic on Friday at 7 p.m.