The Lancaster Bible College Women's Volleyball team hosted their final home tri-match of the season on Saturday afternoon as they celebrated Senior Day, losing to St. Mary's (Md.) in five sets in conference play and defeating Shenandoah 3-0 in non-conference. The Chargers finish the regular season at 16-11 overall and 7-3 in the United East while the Seahawks finish 14-14 overall and 8-2 in the United East and the Hornets move to 11-10 overall and 6-4 in the ODAC.
**Before the first match, LBC Athletics took time to recognize the program's seniors for the season in their final regular season home game, including #7 Madison Timberlake, #19 Riley Dodrer, and #22 Jessica Hendricks.
vs St. Mary's (Md.) –
2-3 Loss (25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 25-27, 5-15)
How it Happened:
The Chargers started strong in set one with a 5-1 lead including a kill by junior
Eden Belford and a block by Belford and senior
Jessica Hendricks. The Chargers later scored five straight points with a kill and a service ace by junior
Lea Sareyka and a solo block by Hendricks, maintaining the lead by scoring in bunches throughout the middle of the set. Despite a late four-point run by the Seahawks, the Chargers closed out set one 25-19 on a kill by sophomore
Madison Reap.
Set two was all Chargers early as back-to-back service aces by senior
Madison Timberlake got LBC out to a 4-0 lead. St. Mary's (Md.) surged with a five-point run to take the lead, but the Chargers responded with five of their own to take the lead back. Another run of four points extended the Charger lead to 17-12, then three in a row off Seahawk errors kept the lead at five at 21-16. The Chargers held on to win set two 25-22 as a kill and a block from junior
Jessica Fletcher sealed the deal.
The score was close early in the third set with Sareyka and Fletcher each racking up kills. A four-point run capped by a Sareyka ace put LBC up 7-5, then a solo block from senior
Riley Dodrer made it 9-6 Chargers. The Seahawks battled back to tie the set, then exploded for a 9-1 scoring run to storm out to a seven-point lead at 21-14. Despite the deficit, the Chargers found a way to chip away in the final moments and fended off three straight set points including a block and a kill by Belford to tie it up at 24-24. The Seahawks stepped up in extra points, winning two straight to win the set 26-24 and force a fourth set.
The Chargers started set four up 3-0 with kills by Sareyka and freshman
Ashby Brummer, but the Seahawks quickly tied it up at 4-4. Kills by Fletcher and Reap and a Sareyka ace gave LBC three in a row, but St. Mary's (Md.) tied it at 10 and again at 14. The teams fought back and forth towards the end of the set, trading big blows with kills and aces to tie the set at 23-23. With the Seahawks holding set point, two kills by Sareyka and Reap powered LBC back for a set point of their own, but three straight points by the Seahawks helped them seal set four 27-25 and force a decisive fifth set.
Set five was dominated by the Seahawks, racing out to an 8-1 lead behind several big kills and blocks to stifle the Chargers' momentum. The Chargers found a few points, but were outraced by the Seahawks in set five as they won it handily 15-5 to compete the reverse sweep of the Chargers and spoil their Senior Day.
By the Numbers:
- The Seahawks held the edge in kills 58-45 while the Chargers had 12 blocks to the Seahawks' nine
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Eden Belford led the Chargers with 11 kills and tied a season-high with four blocks
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Madison Reap and
Jessica Fletcher each added 10 kills with Reap recording 15 digs
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Madison Timberlake had a team-high 22 digs and junior
Madeline Reed had 20 assists and 10 digs
- The Seahawks were led by Julia Bobrowski with 10 kills and a match-high 28 digs
vs Shenandoah –
3-0 Win (25-17, 25-21, 25-18)
How it Happened:
The Chargers got off to a hot start in set one with the first five points, with
Lea Sareyka knocking two kills on the run. Shenandoah battled back within one, but a four-point burst with a kill by
Madison Reap and a service ace from
Jessica Hendricks put some distance between the Chargers and Hornets. The Chargers got a 6-1 run going to separate, then closed out the set with four straight kills to seal it 25-17 with three kills by
Eden Belford.
The Chargers seized the lead again in set two 3-0 with kills by Belford and Hendricks, then got out to a 10-4 advantage on some Hornet errors and a solo block by Dodrer. A run of five points in the middle of the set saw three straight kills by Sareyka, getting the lead up to 19-10. Shenandoah fought back to within three points late, but Sareyka ended the set with a kill to win it 25-21.
The Hornets grabbed their first set lead at 4-3 early in set three, but the Chargers quickly pulled ahead 6-4 with three in a row. A four-point run later in the set had two service aces from
Madeline Reed, with Reap landing an ace as well for a 13-7 lead. The Hornets put together a run to pull within two points, but the Chargers pulled away with five straight points including two blocks, going on to close out the set 25-18 and finish the day with a 3-0 sweep of the Hornets.
By the Numbers:
- The Chargers held a narrow lead in kills 39-34 and had eight service aces to the Hornets' five, with the teams each recording six blocks
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Lea Sareyka led the Chargers with 11 kills and two service aces
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Eden Belford had nine kills and two blocks
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Madison Reap and
Madison Timberlake each reached double-digits in digs
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Madeline Reed dished a match-high 21 assists
- The Hornets were led by Hannah Hylton and Ashlynn Spence with nine kills each
Information to Know:
The Chargers are 5-3 all-time against St. Mary's (Md.) and saw a five-game win streak against the Seahawks snapped and are now 2-7 all-time against Shenandoah with their first win over the Hornets since 2019. The Chargers finish the regular season at 7-3 in the United East, a two-win decrease from last season with all their conference losses coming at home this year.
Up Next:
The Chargers have earned the 3-seed in the United East Championship and will host a United East Quarterfinal match on Saturday, November 8 against the 6-seed Penn St. Brandywine at a time to be determined.
