The Lancaster Bible College Men's Volleyball team squared off against their fourth straight nationally ranked team in two weeks in the Saints of Marymount (Va.). The Chargers ended up losing to the eighteenth-ranked Saints in three sets by an average score of just three points. Following the loss, the Chargers fall to 3-5 overall while the Saints improve to 6-0 overall.
 
How It Happened: Returning back to the Horst Athletic Center, the Chargers started slow against a tough Saints squad. Sophomore setter Christian Herr got the first point for the Chargers, but they found themselves in a 15-7 deficit early. Following a timeout from Head Coach Jade Brubaker, the Chargers put together an 8-2 run including two kills from Jake Rotelle and back-to-back blocks that brought them within two points, igniting the crowd and forcing the Saints to take a timeout. The Saints managed to put their own scoring run together, putting five unanswered points on the board, leading to a 25-21 first set win.
 
The second set was one for the books, featuring 16 total ties. It began with a 7-5 Charger lead behind kills from Rotelle and Jordan Yoder, but the Saints managed to circle back and tie the game at 7-7. Yoder kept the Chargers ahead on two more kills, but the Saints made a run that reclaimed the lead 16-13. The game was tied six more times until the Saints went on a 3-0 run after being tied with the Chargers 22-22 to win their second set of the night.
 
Looking to steal the third set, the Chargers managed to keep pace with the Saints behind efforts from Hunter Davis, Nicholas Marion, and others. Losing 20-19, a kill from Davis and an attack error on the Saints' side gave the Chargers a late 21-20 lead. Both teams continued to trade points with the game on the line. A Saints service error tied the game at 24-24, but the opposing team proved too much, getting a kill and block to seal the set and match, 26-24.
 
By the Numbers: The Chargers tallied 29 kills and six blocks for the match while the Saints had 37 kills and nine blocks… Jordan Yoder had a team high eight kills while adding five digs for the Chargers… Jake Rotelle and Nicholas Marion added five kills each… DJ Omogrosso had four blocks… Christian Herr dished out 18 assists and had eight digs… Ben Latham had a game-high 14 digs… Devon Robinson had a game-high 13 kills for the Saints while Mason Moore had eight blocks.

From the Coach: "I thought we competed well tonight at times. I believe we are still working on finding out what we have on our team," said Head Coach Jade Brubaker. "But the guys fought hard and gave themselves some opportunities to make plays. As our consistency improves and we form our identity we should continue to get better." 
 
Up Next: The Chargers hit the road for another string of tough matches versus #4 California Lutheran and Arcadia hosted by the Knights on Saturday, February 3.