The Lancaster Bible College women's volleyball team's magical run through the 2018 season came to an end on Sunday, as the Chargers lost to Morrisville State, 3-0 in the North Eastern Athletic Conference Final. Lancaster Bible dropped Sunday's match, 25-15, 25-17, 25-21, and finishes the 2018 season with a 21-9 overall record, while Morrisville State will move onto the NCAA Division III National Tournament with a record of 25-6.
 
Match Recap: Morrisville State flexed its muscles as the top team in the NEAC all season long early in the match, as the Mustangs raced out to an 8-2 lead. Lancaster Bible called timeout and earned the next point on a kill from senior Hannah Gipe, but Morrisville State rattled off the next six points, and took a 14-3 lead after a kill from Helena Hanes.
 
The Chargers won four of the next five points to cut their deficit to 15-7 after a block assist from senior Courtney Goyak and sophomore Aleah Heyworth, but the Mustangs were willing to exchange points the rest of the set with their big lead, and held off Lancaster Bible, and took the first set, 25-15.
 
Lancaster Bible found itself down, 8-3 in the second set, but won the next five points, three of which came on errors from Morrisville State. Heyworth began with a kill, and junior Ashtyn Bouslog finished it off with a kill, as the Chargers knotted the match at 8-8.
 
The Chargers found themselves down 10-9 a couple of points later, but Morrisville State put the pedal to the floor for the second straight set, and won the next eight points for an 18-9 advantage. Lancaster Bible wouldn't go quietly in the second set however, and won four of the next five points to trail 19-14 after a kill from sophomore Bekah Roberts. Again the teams traded points down the stretch, and the Mustangs won the second frame, 25-17 on a kill from Megyan Merrill.
 
Morrisville State used the same plan in the third set as the first two, and won 12 of the first 15 points of the set to build a 12-3 lead. With their backs against the wall for the second straight day, the Chargers fought back and trailed just, 15-11 after five straight points which Heyworth capped with an ace.
 
After three straight points from the Mustangs, Lancaster Bible won another five straight as Bouslog ended the run with an ace of her own, and cut the Chargers' deficit to two at 18-16. An ace from senior Erin Harkey a few points later trimmed the deficit to one at 21-20, but Morrisville State won four of the last five points, and clinched its second straight title with a kill from Amelia Baratier.
 
By the Numbers: Morrisville State led the Chargers, 49-27 in kills, and 6-3 in service aces…The Chargers also trailed, 42-34 in digs, and 7-4 in blocks…Gipe led the team with nine kills, while Bouslog finished with seven kills, two aces and a block…Heyworth had six kills, nine digs and two blocks, and junior Allison Shuey had 23 assists and two digs…Goyak finished with three kills and two blocks, while fellow senior Hannah Thompson had a team-best 13 digs in her final collegiate match.
 
The Coach Says: "We gave up some scoring runs early in each set, and had to dig ourselves out of hole, which is really hard to do against a good team, which Morrisville State is," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Micah Herron said. "We didn't do ourselves any favors in the first two sets, and finally started figuring out that we could play with them in the third set."
 
On What Sunday Means for the Future: "I told the team that, 'Experience is what you gain, when you don't get what you want,' and today we gained experience, and that is something we can take with us going forward," Herron said. "I'm proud of the effort the team gave today, and in this season of firsts, I couldn't be more proud of what this team accomplished this season."
 
Information Hodge Podge: Lancaster Bible is now 4-5 all-time against Morrisville State…The Chargers finished with 21 wins, the most in program history…Lancaster Bible finished 12-8 in matches away from Horst Athletic Center…Gipe ends her career with 805 kills, the third-most in program history…Thompson's 439 digs this season are the ninth-most in program history, and she caps her career with 895 digs, the seventh-most in program history…Goyak (79) and Shuey (77) are now first and second in program history for block assists in a single season in program history, and Goyak is the first Lancaster Bible player to have 100 or more blocks in a season since 2002, when Sukey Reed and Merli Moser accomplished the feat…Shuey's 819 assists are the fourth-most in a single season in program history, and she now has 2,370 for her career, the second-most in program history.