The Lancaster Bible College Women's Volleyball team traveled to Bryn Athyn, Pa. for a United East road match against Penn St. Abington on Tuesday night, earning a 3-0 sweep as they clinched their spot in the 2026 United East postseason. The Chargers improve to 11-9 overall and 7-1 in the United East while the Lions drop to 10-8 overall and 3-4 in the United East.
How it Happened:
The Chargers started on a heater with the first seven points in set one, led by two service aces by
Tessa Kwiatkowski (Sr.) and two kills from
Lea Sareyka (Sr.). Sareyka then landed another kill, then exploded on a six-point run as kills by
Eden Belford (Sr.) and
Hannah Helmer (Fr.) backed up another ace by Kwiatkowski to extend the LBC lead to 19-6. Sareyka landed back-to-back service aces as part of a 6-1 stretch to secure set one for the Chargers 25-8.
The Lions grabbed the early 3-1 advantage in set two before Kwiatkowski had another ace to cap a three-point swing to put LBC on top. The Chargers then grabbed a four-point lead after a run of four, but Penn St. Abington answered with a four-point run of their own to tie it up at 8-8. Immediately after, another run of four points from Lancaster Bible forced a Lions timeout as
Lyndsie Bomgardner (Fr.) capped the run with an ace, then a kills by Belford and
Jessica Fletcher (Sr.) got the lead to five at 15-10. Abington won four of the next five points to cut the lead to two, but after a block by Fletcher and
Chloe Belford (Sr.), Helmer had a kill to make it a 21-17 LBC lead and force a timeout. Fletcher had each of the final four points for the Chargers, landing three kills and a service ace to help the Chargers win set two 25-21.
Abington took a 3-0 lead in set three before a kill by Sareyka, but the Lions kept building as they went ahead 11-2 after a big run to force a Chargers timeout. Three straight kills with two from
Eden Belford helped the Chargers halt Abington's momentum, but they maintained the lead as they got out to a 16-7 advantage. Sareyka then had a kill and an ace to cut the lead to six, then Fletcher and
Samantha Hey (So.) combined on a block to cut it down to four. A few points later,
Eden Belford had two kills and
Maggie Kwiatkowski (Jr.) had a service ace, then a block by Hey got the Chargers within one as the Lions took a timeout at 20-19. Another kill by
Eden Belford tied it up at 20-20 to complete the nine-point comeback, then after Abington won the next two, the Chargers knotted it right back up at 22 apiece. A block by
Chloe Belford put the Chargers ahead 24-23 for match point before a Lions' block sent it to extra points, but Belford had a kill two points later to seal the come-from-behind third set win 26-24 and clinch the Chargers' postseason spot with a sweep of the Lions.
By the Numbers:
Team Stats
- Kills:
Lancaster Bible 38, Penn St. Abington 20
- Digs:
Lancaster Bible 47, Penn St. Abington 33
- Blocks: Lancaster Bible 4,
Penn St. Abington 5
- Aces:
Lancaster Bible 11, Penn St. Abington 7
Key Performances
-
Eden Belford: 12 Kills (match-high), .529 attack %
-
Hannah Helmer: 9 Kills
-
Tessa Kwiatkowski: 19 Assists, 4 Aces
-
Madison Reap: 14 Digs (match-high)
- Ellie Van Otten (PSA): 6 Kills, 2 Aces
- Fabiola Medina (PSA): 12 Digs, 1 Ace
Information to Know:
The Chargers are now 14-1 all-time against Penn St. Abington and have won their last six matches against the Lions dating back to 2021 including playoffs. The Chargers extend their longest winning streak of the season to five games and are a season-best two games over .500 at 11-9. This will be the Chargers' fifth straight trip to the United East playoffs and their first under head coach
Justin Brubaker in his first season.
Lea Sareyka passed Katie Coomber (2011-14) for 8th-Place on the all-time LBC service aces list, landing four tonight and now sitting at 167 career aces.
Eden Belford moved into 13th in program history in career kills tonight, passing Morgan Fenstermacher (2020-23) with 643 total kills.
Up Next:
The Chargers have a home tri-match this Saturday, October 24 as they take on Cairn in United East play at 11:00 a.m. followed by a non-conference match against Hood College at 3:00 p.m.
