The Lancaster Bible College women's volleyball team nearly pulled off a big upset on Tuesday evening at Horst Athletic Center, as the Chargers fought back from a two-set deficit to tie their match with Eastern, 2-2, but the Eagles, winners of 14 straight matches, overcame an early fifth-set deficit, and earned a 3-2 victory. The Eagles improved to 19-1 overall this season with a 25-16, 25-10, 20-25, 22-25, 15-10 victory, while the Chargers, down several players due to COVID protocols, dropped to 8-11 this year.

How it Happened: Eastern took an early lead in the opening set, but the Chargers earned four straight points midway through the set and knotted the score at 14-14 thanks to kills from Cassidy King and Raylee Feather, followed by an ace from Leah Helman and an Eastern error. After the teams traded points, the Eagles rattled off seven straight points for a 22-15 advantage, as the visitors crushed five straight kills during the run, and eventually took the set, 25-16.

Things went from bad to worse for the Chargers to open the second set, as the Eagles earned 10 of the first 13 points of the frame for an early lead. Lancaster Bible righted the ship for a bit and won four of the next five points to close the gap to 11-8, as sisters Sheyenne King and Cassidy King had kills. The teams exchanged the next four points, but with the score 13-10 in favor of the visitors, Eastern scored the final 12 points of the set for a 25-10 set victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.

After a break between the second and third sets to honor Lancaster Bible Breast Cancer Awareness Week, the Chargers woke up and played a strong third set. Lancaster Bible took an early lead, but Eastern countered and led 9-7 after an error by the Chargers. Lancaster Bible shook it off and rattled off the next four points. The teams went back-and-forth from there, and Eastern eventually took a 15-14 lead. The Chargers rallied and earned the next six points for a 20-15 advantage, as Leah Helman had two aces during the run. Eastern wouldn't go away quietly, but Sheyenne King's service ace sealed the set three win a few points later.

Lancaster Bible rode the momentum from the third set into the fourth and jumped out to a 9-4 lead thanks to back-to-back kills from Sheyenne King. The Eagles would eventually battle back and earned four of five points midway through the set for a 17-15 lead. Lancaster Bible answered right back and won five of six points, but Eastern took its turn, and won three straight points for a 22-21 advantage. The Chargers had the final word of the fourth set however, and won the final four points of the frame, as Chloe King sent the Horst Athletic Center crowd into a frenzy with a kill that gave Lancaster Bible a 25-22 victory.

The Chargers took an early lead in the deciding set thanks to a kill from Chloe King and an ace from Brittany Martin, but their 4-1 lead evaporated, and Eastern grabbed a 6-4 lead after five straight points. Two Eastern errors sandwiched around a kill from Cassidy King restored Lancaster Bible's lead at 7-6, but the Eagles won five of the next seven points for an 11-9 advantage. The Chargers trimmed their deficit to one at 11-10, but Eastern proved to be too much, and won the final four points for a 15-10 victory.

Statistically Speaking: Lancaster Bible had 38 kills and 26 errors on 165 attacks for a .073 hitting percentage, while the Eagles had 57 kills and 22 errors on 151 attacks for a .232 attack percentage...Eastern led in aces, 11-10, and also held a 73-53 advantage in digs...Cassidy King led the Chargers with 14 kills and nine digs, while Martin added nine kills and 13 digs...Chloe King had seven kills, while Leah Helman had 31 assists, 12 digs, and six aces...Feather added three kills and eight digs as well for the Chargers...Bridgette Kelly was one of three Eastern players in double figures for kills, as she had a team-high 13.

News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 3-9 all-time against Eastern...This was the first match between the two teams since the 1995 season...Lancaster Bible is just 1-6 since the calendar turned to October...This was the fourth time in five matches the Chargers have had 37 or more kills in a match...Tuesday also marked the eighth time this season Lancaster Bible has had 10 or more service aces...Eastern is receiving votes in the latest AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible returns to action on Thursday, as the Chargers travel west to battle York (Pa.) at 7 p.m. 

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