The Lancaster Bible College men's volleyball team will host the North Eastern Athletic Conference Playoffs for the second consecutive season this weekend, as the top-seeded Chargers welcome Wells, SUNY Poly and Keuka to Horst Athletic Center.
 
Saturday's semifinals will feature Lancaster Bible against Keuka, and Wells taking on SUNY Poly, and the winners will meet in the NEAC Final on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
 
Lancaster Bible, ranked 10^th in the latest AVCA Division III Coaches Top 15 Poll, is the defending NEAC Champion, as the Chargers defeated Wells, 3-1 a year ago and advanced to the NCAA Division III National Tournament where they defeated Rivier, 3-2 in the NCAA First Round, before falling to top-ranked, and eventual champion, Springfield in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
 
Each match of the NEAC Playoffs can be seen on The Chargers Sports Network, as well as the NEAC All-Conference Awards Ceremony between the semifinal matches.
 
NEAC SEMIFINALS PREVIEW
 
No. 4 Keuka vs. No. 1 Lancaster Bible – 12 p.m.
Team Records
Keuka: 13-12, 4-6 NEAC
Lancaster Bible: 25-4, 10-0 NEAC
 
Regular Season Meetings
March 15 - LBC 3, @KEU 0:  The Chargers smashed 38 kills, led by Nate Miller's 15…Miller and Benjamin Herb also added two aces each, while Kole Horst had 11 digs…Brad McKnight led the Wolves with eight kills, while Kamren Record had 26 assists.
March 22 - @LBC 3, KEU 0: Lancaster Bible swept the Wolves a week later as well, defeating Keuka, 25-15, 26-24, 25-7…The Chargers had 39 kills and just 12 errors on 74 attempts, as Kaleb Ansell had 33 assists and four blocks, while Miller (12) and Horst (11) had double-digit kills…Brad McKnight and JP Nery each had six kills for the Wolves.
 
Stat Showcase
Keuka: The Wolves has smashed 881 kills this season, led by McKnight's 195…The team is hitting .176 this season, and also has 143 blocks…Christian Nickerson leads the team with 63 blocks, while Seth Welker, a NEAC All-Conference Second Team selection, paces the team with 228 digs...Record leads the team with 680 assists.
 
Lancaster Bible: The Chargers have 1,155 kills this season, led by Miller's 386…Miller leads the NEAC and is second in NCAA Division III with 4.71 kills per set, and his 5.5 points per set are also the best in the NEAC and second-best in the country…Lancaster Bible has a .288 attacking percentage this season, and has fired 164 service aces…Kaleb Ansell, first in the NEAC with 10.35 assists per set, leads the team with 869 total assists, while Zeke Hallman has a NEAC-best 77 blocks.
 
Team Notes
Keuka: The Wolves are 3-7 in true road matches this season, and 5-8 in all matches outside of Keuka Park…In addition to being named to the NEAC All-Conference Second Team, McKnight was also named NEAC Rookie of the Year…Over its final 10 matches of the regular season, the Wolves went 4-6…Keuka won the first-ever NEAC Championship back in 2013, defeating Lancaster Bible, 3-1.
 
Lancaster Bible: The Chargers are hosting the NEAC Playoffs for the second straight season, and haven't lost a NEAC regular season contest in over two years…Lancaster Bible dropped just four sets all season long in NEAC play…The Chargers are 12-1 at home this season, with the lone loss coming to No. 5 Stevens, 3-1 on Feb. 16…Lancaster Bible went 9-1 over its final 10 matches of the regular season, and has won nine straight matches entering the NEAC Playoffs…This is the seventh season the NEAC has offered a Men's Volleyball Playoff, and Lancaster Bible is making its fifth appearance in the postseason…The Chargers have advanced to the NEAC Final in three of its first four appearances, losing in the Final in 2013 and 2014, while winning last year's NEAC Final over Wells, 3-1.
 
 
No. 3 SUNY Poly vs. No. 2 Wells
Team Records
SUNY Poly: 16-12, 7-3 NEAC
Wells: 25-8, 7-3 NEAC
 
Regular Season Meetings
Feb. 9 - @SPI 3, WEL 1: The teams split two close sets, and SUNY Poly took a 2-1 lead with a 26-24 set three victory…The Wildcats then won the fourth set, 31-29, as they fought off three set points and took the match in four sets…SUNY Poly had 60 kills in the match, while Wells had 53…Caden O'Loughlin and Robert Patzer each had 16 kills for the Express, while Max Szuba (18), Donovan Suguitan (15) and Matthew Russo (10) all had double-digit kills for the Wildcats.
Apr. 6 - @WEL 3, SPI 0: Wells cruised to the three-set victory, defeating SUNY Poly, 25-11, 25-19, 25-13…Wells had 42 kills, led by O'Loughlin's 12, and Patzer's 10…Suguitan had a team-best eight kills for the Wildcats.
 
Stat Showcase
SUNY Poly: The Wildcats have 1,073 kills this season, led by Suguitan's 251…The team also has 152 aces, and Brian Malsan, the NEAC Defensive Player of the Year, has a team-best 244 digs…Setter Piotr Kasza has posted 647 assists this season.
 
Wells: The Express have an astonishing 1,502 kills this season in 33 matches, and also 1,162 digs…O'Loughlin leads the NEAC with 453 kills, while he also paces the Express with 245 digs and 45 aces…Setter Josh Undari is the lone player in the NEAC with more than 1,000 assists this season with 1,080, and Ryan Turner leads the squad with 59 blocks.
 
Team Notes
SUNY Poly: The Wildcats are 6-2 in neutral site matches this season…In addition to Malsan being named NEAC Defensive Player of the Year, he was also a NEAC All-Conference First Team selection along with teammate Piotr Kasza…Szuba and Suguitan were NEAC All-Conference Second Team selections…SUNY Poly won the NEAC Championship in 2014 over Lancaster Bible, and lost to Medaille in the 2016 NEAC Final.
 
Wells: The Express are 8-3 in neutral site matches this season…O'Loughlin leads the NEAC in total kills (453), digs (245) and aces (45)…O'Loughlin and Patzer were named to the NEAC All-Conference First Team this season, while Undari earned NEAC All-Conference Second Team honors…The Express have appeared in the NEAC Final in each of the past two seasons, falling to Penn St. Altoona in 2017 and Lancaster Bible a year ago.