The Lancaster Bible College women's volleyball team opened North Eastern Athletic Conference play with a victory on Thursday night in Washington, D.C., as the Chargers swept Gallaudet, 3-0. The Chargers won the match, their second straight, 25-22, 25-19, 25-15, and improved to 5-7 overall and 1-0 in NEAC play, while the Bison dropped to 1-12 overall and 0-1 in NEAC action.
 
How it Happened: Gallaudet won the first four points of the opening set, but Lancaster Bible quickly erased the deficit, and tied the set at 5-5 on an ace by Allison Shuey. The Chargers won eight of nine points in the set, and took a 13-9 lead after a Bison error followed an ace by Rebekah Godshall. The teams exchanged points as the set progressed, but back-to-back kills from Ashtyn Bouslog and Aleah Heyworth gave the Chargers a 20-16 lead. The Bison wouldn't go away however, and tied the match with four straight points at 21-21. Lancaster Bible didn't panic, and took the next three points, as Cassidy King slammed home a kill, followed by two straight aces from Heyworth. After a point from Gallaudet, the Chargers got a kill from Courtney Goyak and won the set, 25-22.
 
The Bison won five straight points early in the second set to take a 7-4 advantage, but again Lancaster Bible stayed with its plan, and won 10 of the next 11 points to take a 14-8 lead. Bouslog had two aces during the run, while Bekah Roberts ended the streak with a kill. Again however, Gallaudet wouldn't go quietly, and cut its deficit to 19-17 after an ace from Karita Lewis. Lancaster Bible took advantage of five straight Bison errors following Lewis' ace, and won the set, 25-19 on a kill from Roberts.
 
The third set belonged to the Chargers, as they won eight of 10 points midway through the set. Kills from Roberts and Heyworth, followed by another ace from Shuey gave Lancaster Bible a 19-9 lead, and after four late points by Gallaudet, the Chargers finally won, 25-15.
 
Statistically Speaking: Lancaster Bible had 33 kills and 21 errors on 104 attempts for a .115 hitting percentage, while the Bison had 21 kills and 18 errors on 101 attempts for a .030 hitting percentage…The Chargers led in aces, 10-6, and blocks, 8-4…Lancaster Bible also led in digs, 52-46…Heyworth paced the Chargers with nine kills, four blocks and two aces, while Roberts had eight kills and team-best six blocks…Goyak added seven kills, while Bouslog had five kills, six digs and two aces…Cassidy King added three kills and three digs, and Shuey had 29 assists to go with five digs…Kate Smoker had a team-best 15 digs, while Suzanna Whiting had 13 digs.
 
The Coach Says: "Tonight was a quality win for us," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Micah Herron said. "I thought we played well for most of the match, and we were really efficient on the offensive side. We had some great individual efforts tonight, and when you have three or four players hitting the way they hit tonight, you're going to be successful. We talked about winning the service and attack battle, and we were able to do that in a very tough place to play."
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 2-11 all-time against Gallaudet, and has won two straight over the Bison…This is the first time the Chargers have ever defeated Gallaudet in Washington, D.C…Lancaster Bible is now 3-2 in true road matches this season…Thursday marked the third time in four matches the Chargers have had double-digit aces…The 10 block assists tied a season-high.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible returns home on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. to host Penn College.