The Lancaster Bible College Women's Volleyball team traveled south on Saturday to Southern Maryland for a tri-match between their fifth United East Conference opponent, the St. Mary's (Md.) Seahawks, and non-conference Eastern Mennonite Royals. The Chargers walked away 1-1 on the day, staying perfect in conference after a 3-2 win over the Seahawks, while battling it out but falling to the Royals 3-1. The Chargers are now 14-9 overall and 5-0 in conference play.
at St. Mary's (Md.), 3-2 Win (18-25; 25-21; 25-22; 18-25; 17-15)
How It Happened: The Chargers knew it was going to be a battle from the start as they tried to gain their fifth conference win of the season. The Seahawks came out swinging, winning the first set 25-18 to put the Chargers back on their heels. As resilient as the Chargers have been this season, this might've been their most impressive showing as they won the next two sets by a combined seven points. With a 2-1 advantage after a gritty first few sets, the Seahawks posted the same score as the first set to even the match. It was in the fifth set, however, that the Chargers took a leap forward. After finding themselves down 5-1 early, the squad began to piece together points, including three kills from Morgan Fentermacher to bring it within two points, 10-8. Still trailing, the Chargers put another four point sprawl together emphasized by a
Lea Sareyka kill to even the game at 12-12 all. The Seahawks and Chargers continued to trade points, but it was the Chargers who pulled out the win after scoring three consecutive points to win 17-15.
By the Numbers: The Chargers lost the kill battle 53-49… the Seahawks had 12 aces and the Chargers had six aces… both teams had seven blocks… the Chargers had 42 assists and 107 digs…
Riley Dodrer led with 13 total kills… Fenstermacher and Sareyka both added 10 kills apiece…
Leah Helman finished with 27 digs and three aces…
Faith Hammond and Fenstermacher both had three blocks… Grace Caudell had 11 kills.
vs. Eastern Mennonite, 3-1 Win (20-25; 21-25; 25-15; 25-19)
How It Happened: Coming off a high intensity game, the Chargers ran out of gas against a very solid Royals squad. The Royals took an early advantage, winning the first two sets, but the Chargers were able to give them a fight, losing by a combined nine points in those first two sets. In the third set, the Chargers rallied, making a huge 7-1 run early behind three consecutive kills from freshman
Jessica Fletcher. The Chargers used the early set run to keep a distance between the Royals and propel them to third set win. With a little momentum, the Chargers started the fourth set with another lead, looking to potentially finish another five set thriller, but the Royals worked their way back, tying the game at 12-12 and went on to win 25-19 to make it the fourth and final set of the game.
By the Numbers: The Chargers tied with the Royals in kills 41-41… the Royals had 14 aces and the Chargers eight… the Chargers had seven blocks, 37 assists, and 77 digs on the game… Fenstermacher and Fletcher both had 10 kills…
Bethany Pettis had two service aces…
Leah Helman had 18 digs and 2 aces… Fenstermacher had four blocks… Lizzy Kirkton had 16 kills for the Royals.
From the Coach: "The team played with a lot of fight and overcame some adversity down the home stretch to pull out the win. I was proud of the way they played in both matches." –
Head Coach Julie Brubaker
Up Next: With the season ending, the Chargers host an important match against conference leader Gallaudet on Wednesday, October 25 at 7:00 p.m.
