The Lancaster Bible College men's volleyball team won its seventh straight match on Wednesday night, as the Chargers swept past Messiah, 3-0 at Horst Athletic Center. The 12^th ranked Chargers improved to 7-2 overall this season with the 25-22, 25-20, 25-17 victory, while the Falcons dropped to 2-3.
 
How it Happened: It was the Falcons who nabbed an early lead, as Messiah jumped out to a 7-3 lead early in the opening set. The Chargers overcame some early struggles and won four straight points to the first set at 7-7 thanks to back-to-back kills from Zeke Hallman and Benjamin Herb. Lancaster Bible then won seven of eight points later in the set, and took a 15-11 lead after kills from Kole Horst and Daniel Kreider.
The Falcons hung around in the opening set, and cut their deficit to two, 23-21, late in the set, but a kill from Nate Miller gave the Chargers set point, and they closed it out a point later thanks to a Messiah error.
 
Lancaster Bible won six straight points early in the second set to take a 9-4 lead, as Miller had two straight aces to end the run. The teams traded points for middle portion of the set, though Messiah did climb to within three, 20-17 later in the set. Lancaster Bible got a kill from Miller, and then took advantage of two straight Falcon errors to take a 23-17 lead, before taking the second set, 25-20.
 
The final set belonged to the Chargers, as the home team took an 8-1 lead early in the set, thanks to timely blocks, big kills, and back-to-back aces from Reuben Kemrer that ended the run. After Messiah cut the Chargers' advantage to 13-10, Lancaster Bible won seven of eight points for a 20-11 lead, as Herb ended the scoring run with a solo block. The Chargers ended the match a few points later, as Hallman rose up and smashed a kill down the middle to give Lancaster Bible the win.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible had 37 kills against just 15 kills on 73 attempts for a .301 hitting percentage, while Messiah had 27 kills and 16 errors on 78 attempts for a .141 hitting percentage…The Chargers held a 7-3 edge in blocks, and a 30-16 advantage in digs…Miller finished with a team-high 13 kills, and also added seven digs, three blocks and two aces…Horst added 11 kills, a block and an ace, while Herb finished with seven kills and two blocks…Hallman had three kills and four blocks, and Kaleb Ansell had 32 assists and eight digs…Kurt Maysilles also added seven digs for the Chargers…Matt Knab led the Falcons with nine kills.
 
Information Hodge Podge: The Chargers are now 2-1 all-time against Messiah…Lancaster Bible defeated the Falcons, 3-1 last season in Grantham, Pa…Lancaster Bible is 3-0 at home this season, and the Chargers have now won 15 straight matches at home dating back to last season…Lancaster Bible has had 37 or more kills in each of its last six matches…Wednesday also marked the seventh straight match the Chargers have posted a .300 hitting percentage or better.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible opens up North Eastern Athletic Conference play on Thursday night, as the Chargers take on Wilson in Chambersburg, Pa. at 7 p.m.