The Lancaster Bible College Women's Volleyball team traveled to Washington D.C. for a post-season matchup with the Gallaudet Bison and an opportunity to move onto the United East Conference Championship. Despite the Chargers' best efforts, the Bison proved to be too much as they won in three sets. The Chargers finish the season 18-11 overall and 5-1 in conference play, while the Bison improve to 30-3 overall.
 
How It Happened: The Bison jumped out to an early 6-2 lead to begin the first set, but knowing the battle they were in for, the Chargers didn't shy away, closing the deficit to 9-8. The resilience wasn't enough to give the Chargers the lead though as the Bison used a run of eight unanswered points to bring the lead to 21-9. The first set ended in favor of the Bison, 25-14.
 
Feeling a sense of urgency, the Chargers rattled of four straight points early in the second set, including back-to-back kills from Morgan Fenstermacher, to take their first lead of the game 6-2. The Chargers kept the five-point cushion on another string of points, this time from Faith Hammond and Riley Dodrer. Continuing to keep the Bison at bay between strong attacks and stout defense, the Chargers found themselves with a 22-15 lead. Following a Bison timeout, the home team proceeded to put together a 10-2 run to tie the game at 24-24. The top two teams continued to trade points until the Bison used a service error and kill to win the second set 29-27.
 
Elimination near, the Chargers knew they had to give it their all and they did. Despite going down 4-1 early, the Chargers fought back to bring the deficit to within one, 15-14. The deficit increased and decreased again as Chloe King and Riley Dodrer put down kills to bring it within 17-16. Unable to get over the hump, the Bison ran out to a five-point lead 21-16, but the Chargers didn't go away, piecing together attacks. Down 24-20, the Chargers found themselves hanging onto hope as a block from Fenstermacher and Hammond followed by another kill from King brought the game within two. But it wasn't enough as the Bison sealed the third set win, 25-22, and claimed the Volt Division title.
 
By the Numbers: The Chargers fell in kills 41-31 and aces 7-5… the Chargers had three blocks, 29 assists, and 67 digs on the game… Chloe King tallied seven kills and 17 digs… Fenstermacher and Hammond had six and five kills respectively as well as a couple of blocks… Madeline Reed dished out 26 assists and Leah Helman tallied 22 digs… Natalie Clayberg led all players with 16 kills.

Information to Know: This is the first time the Chargers have reached the conference finals since 2018, losing to Morrisville St. 3-0. Chloe King reached 750 career kills tonight, helping finish her career in the top-5 in program history with 754 kills and 5th all-time.
 
Congratulations to the Seniors and Women's Volleyball team on a fantastic 2023 season!