The Lancaster Bible College men's volleyball team edged out the Stevenson University Mustangs in a tight contest on Wednesday night, winning in five sets. This is the first win against Stevenson in program history dating all the way back 2009. The Chargers improve to 5-3 overall this season while the Mustangs drop to 2-5.
 
How It Happened: The match began just as it ended with both teams trading points and the lead throughout the first set. The night began with a huge block from seniors Kevin Koch and Elijah Herb, one of 13 blocks for the Chargers. The lead didn't grow to more than one or two points the entire game until the very end when the Mustangs used three straight points to win the first set 25-21.
 
The Chargers had to respond after going down one set, and they did just that. Herb got things started by sending in a kill off a set from freshman Christian Herr to give the Chargers their first point. Following a Mustang kill of their own, the Chargers rattled off four more points to jump out to a 5-1 lead. The Chargers continued to keep a four-to-five-point cushion throughout the second set, leading 19-13 at one point. The Mustangs, however, refused to give the second set up without a fight and took the lead 22-20. Senior Hunter Davis didn't let it stay that way though, scoring three straight points off two kills and one block to give the Chargers a 23-22 lead. The Mustangs proceeded to tie it at 23-23 until a service error and another Herb kill gave the Chargers a 25-23 second-set win.
 
Tied at 1-1, the third set was like that of the first two as both teams had to earn every point. The Chargers took an early lead again and managed to hold onto it all the way until the end, winning 25-20 in the third set. The Chargers had three blocks in the third set. Just as in the third set, the Chargers took another early lead in the fourth set thanks to kills from Davis, Dawson Forney, Jake Rotelle, Herb, and DJ Omogrosso. With a three point lead, the Mustangs managed to tie the game nine times as they gave the crowd a rollercoaster of a game. A Mustang kill for their 23rd point gave them their first lead since early in the fourth until an Herb kill tied it at 23-23. Looking to finish the game, the Chargers gave up two points and the teams headed to the fifth set.
 
The fifth set started just as how you would imagine, with the teams trading points. Tied at 6-6, Rotelle answered with a kill to put the Chargers up 7-6 and start what was the final Charger run of the night. The Chargers proceeded to put up five more points to increase the lead to 12-6. Using the momentum from the huge run, the Chargers raced to a 15-8 fifth-set victory off a block from Davis and Forney to give them the program's first win over the Stevenson Mustangs.
 
From the Coach: "I was really happy for the guys to be able to play well tonight in the fifth set and finish it off. It was little bit of a rollercoaster through the first four sets, but the guys got it together. There are always things we can do to continue to improve, but I'm proud of the guys." – Head Coach Jade Brubaker
 
By the Numbers: The Chargers put down 46 kills and had seven service aces… the Mustangs cashed in 51 kills and also had seven service aces… the Chargers put up a monster 13 blocks on the night… senior Elijah Herb had a game-high 20 kills and added two service aces and six blocks… Hunter Davis had eight kills and eight blocks… Dawson Forney put down seven kills and five blocks with 11 digs… freshman Christian Herr dished out 41 assists and Tanner Shertzer tallied 19 digs… Ryan Thenell and Jack Braverman had 16 and 14 kills respectively for the Mustangs.
 
Information to Know: This was the Chargers' first win over the Mustangs in program history… the Chargers are now 1-18 all-time when playing Stevenson… following Elijah Herb's 20 kills, he is now at a third of his total kills last season in 18 less games... Davis' eight blocks were a season-high.
 
Up Next: The Chargers will have a bit of a break and return to the court on Saturday, February 11^th at the Horst Athletic Center to match up with Randolph-Macon at 7:00 p.m.