The Lancaster Bible College women's volleyball season came to a close on Tuesday night at Horst Athletic Center, as the Chargers lost in five sets to Penn St. Berks, 3-2. The loss closes the Lancaster Bible season with a 16-16 record, while the Nittany Lions will move onto the NEAC Semifinals with a record of 16-14 after their 15-25, 25-14, 25-23, 19-25, 15-12 victory.
 
Penn St. Berks will face top-seeded Morrisville State on Saturday at 12 p.m., while Penn St. Harrisburg will battle Penn St. Abington, who defeated Gallaudet, 3-0 in Tuesday's other NEAC Quarterfinal, at 2:30 p.m.
 
How it Happened: Lancaster Bible jumped on the Nittany Lions in the first set, as the Chargers led, 10-3 after kills from Kate Smoker and Allison Shuey. The Chargers pulled away even further later in the set, rattling off seven of nine points to take a 21-9 lead after another kill from Smoker. The Nittany Lions strung together five of six points late in the opening set, but an attack error by Penn St. Berks gave the Chargers the opening set, 25-15.
 
Things went south for the Chargers in the second set quickly, as Penn St. Berks led 8-2 after three kills and two aces. Lancaster Bible tried to get back into the set, and trailed just 15-10 after an ace from Ashtyn Bouslog, but Penn St. Berks took seven of the next eight points, and led 22-11, before taking the set, 25-14.
 
The third set was a battle from start to finish, with the Chargers jumping out to a 10-4 lead after three straight errors by the Nittany Lions and an ace from Bouslog. Penn St. Berks answered right back with eight of 10 points, and tied the match at 12-12 following a kill from Blair Eckel. Penn St. Berks eventually led, 19-16, but Lancaster Bible won five of six points, and took a 21-20 advantage on a kill from Cassidy King. The Nittany Lions retook the lead, 23-22 after an error by the Chargers, but tied the match a point later on a kill from Shuey. A block by the Nittany Lions, followed by a kill from Zoe Barna gave the visitors the set, 25-23, and the Nittany Lions took a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
With their backs against the wall, the Chargers won the first five points of the fourth set, as Cassidy King had two aces, and Lancaster Bible had three kills. After Penn St. Berks closed the gap to 10-7, Lancaster Bible posted three more points for a 13-7 edge. The Chargers led, 21-14 later in the set, as Chloe King had kill-after-kill in the fourth frame. Lancaster Bible put the set away on a kill from Cassidy King, and sent the match to a fifth set with a 25-19 win.
 
Lancaster Bible won four of the first six points of the fifth set, taking a 4-2 lead on an ace from Aleah Heyworth. After the Chargers led, 5-3, Penn St. Berks won five of the next six points for an 8-6 advantage, as the teams switched sides. The teams exchanged points to, 11-10, but Penn St. Berks got a kill from Sarah Nichols, followed by a Lancaster Bible error, and led 13-10 as the Chargers called timeout. The teams again exchanged points to 14-12, and Natalie Dwyer put the match away with her 15^th kill of the evening, and sent the Nittany Lions to the NEAC Semifinals.
 
Statistically Speaking: Lancaster Bible had 53 kills and 25 errors on 180 attempts for a .156 hitting percentage, while Penn St. Berks had 53 kills and 29 errors on 182 attempts for a .132 hitting percentage…Penn St. Berks led in digs, 89-86, and also held a 7-6 advantage in blocks…The Chargers had nine aces, while the Nittany Lions had seven…Cassidy King led the Chargers with 10 kills and 22 digs, while Heyworth had 10 kills and 14 digs…Shuey had six kills, two aces and five blocks…Smoker had six kills and five digs…Faith Helman had 49 assists and 14 digs, while Bekah Roberts had eight kills…Chloe King had six kills, while Bouslog had two kills, six digs and two aces.
 
The Coach Says: "We started well, and I'm proud of the team for battling back, we just didn't have enough at the end," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Micah Herron said. "We won the hitting, serving, and passing battle, and typically that means we win the match, but tonight it didn't work out that way, but it's why we play the game, and even though this is tough to swallow right now, we will use this to get better in the offseason."
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 9-16 all-time against Penn St. Berks after Tuesday's loss…Lancaster Bible defeated the Nittany Lions, 3-2 on Sept. 28 in Reading, Pa. during the regular season…The Chargers finished the year with a 6-5 record at Horst Athletic Center…Lancaster Bible is now 1-7 all-time in the NEAC Quarterfinals, with the lone win coming 2012…The Chargers were 4-3 in five-set matches this season…Whiting's 425 digs this season are the 11^th-most in program history…Shuey capped her collegiate career with 2,952 assists, the second-most in program history, and her 199 block assists are the most in program history…Bouslog's 172 service aces are the sixth-most in program history.