Lancaster Bible College Athletics

The Lancaster Bible College Women's Volleyball team spent their second straight Saturday at home for a tri-match as they took on Notre Dame (Md.) in United East action and Arcadia in non-conference play, winning the first match 3-1 and dropping the second match 3-2. The Chargers move to 5-8 overall and 2-1 in the United East while the Gators drop to 6-10 overall and 1-2 in the United East and the Knights improve to 13-4 overall and 1-1 in the MAC Freedom.
 
vs Notre Dame (Md.): 3-1 WIN (25-14, 25-17, 18-25, 26-24)
 
How it Happened:
The Chargers got off to a fast start with the first five points, extending the lead to 8-1 as Eden Belford (Sr.) and Jessica Fletcher (Sr.) had early kills. The Gators fought back to cut the lead to three, but a kill from Chloe Stenberg (Sr.) capped a three-point answer from the Chargers. A few points later, the Chargers went on a five-point run with a kill and a block by Samantha Hey (So.) helping LBC lead 17-8. The Chargers scored the final four points of set one, capped by a service ace from Fletcher to close it out 25-14.
 
A pair of kills by Fletcher got LBC to a 4-1 lead in set two, then Maggie Kwiatkowski (Jr.) had a service ace as the lead extended to 7-2. Stenberg then had two kills in a row for a 10-4 LBC advantage, then later on in the set, the Chargers scored five straight points as they led 18-9. The Gators fought back late with two different three-point runs, but the Chargers held on as Lea Sareyka (Sr.) had the final kill to win set two 25-17.
 
Kwiatkowski had another ace for a 2-1 LBC lead early on as the teams forced five tied scores in the first seven exchanges, with Belford and Hey combining on a block to make the score 7-7. From there, the Gators went on a five-point run to gain some momentum, then back-to-back service aces helped Notre Dame (Md.) to an 18-13 advantage. The Gators powered to the end as they held on to return the favor 25-17 and force a fourth set.
 
The Gators got off to a hot start in set four as they jumped ahead 5-1, but a dig-kill by Kwiatkowski helped LBC string three points together to trail by just one. Later on, Fletcher landed three straight service aces as the Chargers pulled ahead 9-8 in the set, but the Gators later took the lead back at 13-12. The lead then changed hands several times before Fletcher had two kills and Madeline Reed (Sr.) landed an ace as the Chargers surged ahead 19-17. The lead stretched to four for LBC on a kill by Chloe Belford (Sr.), but the Gators fought right back to tie the set at 22-22. Notre Dame (Md.) fended off a match point before Sareyka and Eden Belford had kills back-to-back to cap a 26-24 set win and give the Chargers a 3-1 United East victory at home.
 
By the Numbers:
Team Stats
- Kills: Notre Dame (Md.) 30, Lancaster Bible 45
- Digs: Notre Dame (Md.) 60, Lancaster Bible 56
- Blocks: Notre Dame (Md.) 2, Lancaster Bible 5
- Aces: Notre Dame (Md.) 13, Lancaster Bible 12
 
Key Performances
- Jessica Fletcher: 12 Kills (T-match-high), 5 Aces (T-match-high)
- Eden Belford: 10 Kills, 4 Blocks (match-high)
- Maggie Kwiatkowski: 26 Digs (career-high), 3 Aces
- Bryanna Carter (NDM): 12 Kills (T-match-high), 5 Digs
- Oliviya Rodriguez (NDM): 19 Assists, 5 Aces (T-match-high)

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vs Arcadia: 2-3 LOSS (25-22, 20-25, 25-21, 24-26, 9-15)
 
How it Happened:
The Knights grabbed the early lead at 4-1 and added to it as they went up 9-3, then two blocks from the Chargers helped them score three in a row. After some back and forth in the middle of the set, Tessa Kwiatkowski (Sr.) landed a service ace to get it back within three at 14-11. Jessica Fletcher had a kill to cap another three-point burst from LBC, then another Fletcher kill tied the set at 17 apiece. Maggie Kwiatkowski landed two service aces in a row as the Chargers took their first lead of the match at 21-20, then tied at 22, the Chargers scored the final three points with Chloe Belford (Sr.) getting the final kill for a 25-22 opening set win.
 
Arcadia took the lead again in set two with the first three points, extending the lead to 7-3 before a block by Chloe Belford and Eden Belford. Down by four, the Chargers rattled off five straight points including two service aces from Lyndsie Bomgardner (Fr.) to swing ahead 11-10. The lead then went back and forth until a run of three from the Knights to go up 21-17, with Arcadia holding on to win the set 25-20 and even up the match at one set each.
 
It was the Chargers who took the early lead in set three as a few Knight errors led to a 4-1 start. Arcadia surged later in the set to take a 13-11 advantage off five straight points, but the Belford sisters combined on two blocks and Chloe Stenberg had a kill to swing the lead in LBC's favor at 16-14. Bomgardner had another ace and Fletcher had a kill to keep LBC on top 20-18, then an ace from Fletcher and a kill by Eden Belford helped seal the third set for the Chargers 25-21.
 
The Chargers went up 3-1 in set four before a run of five points was powered by a Maggie Kwiatkowski ace and three LBC kills, making the lead 8-3 to start. Arcadia slowly chipped away before a run of three tied the set up at 10-10, tying the score at 12-12 as well off two kills. Samantha Hey then had back-to-back kills and Eden Belford added one as well, but the Knights kept battling back as they took the lead 16-15. Tessa Kwiatkowski tied it up at 18-18 on an ace, then Hey had another kill to knot it up at 22-22. Hey and Eden Belford had a block to fend off a set point, but the Knights won the final two volleys to win the set 26-24 and force a decisive fifth-set in the HAC for the third time this season.
 
Arcadia grabbed the momentum early in set five as then raced to a 5-2 lead, with Sareyka and Eden Belford pacing LBC with kills. The Knights built a seven-point lead at 13-6 before the Chargers fought off two match points on a block and a kill by Eden Belford, but Arcadia wrapped up the set 15-9 on a kill to take down the Chargers in five sets to end the weekend.
 
By the Numbers:
Team Stats
- Kills: Arcadia 61, Lancaster Bible 43
- Digs: Arcadia 105, Lancaster Bible 90
- Blocks: Arcadia 4, Lancaster Bible 13
- Aces: Arcadia 10, Lancaster Bible 10
 
Key Performances
- Jessica Fletcher: 13 Kills, 16 Digs
- Eden Belford: 7 Kills, 8 Blocks (career-high)
- Chloe Belford: 7 Blocks (career-high)
- Maggie Kwiatkowski: 20 Digs, 3 Aces
- Raegan Oursler (ARC): 19 Kills (match-high), 16 Digs, 2 Aces
- Avery Bell (ARC): 36 Digs (match-high)
 
Information to Know:
The Chargers are now 2-1 all-time against Notre Dame (Md.) in three matchups and 3-2 all-time against Arcadia in five matchups, with their past three games against Arcadia going to five sets. The Chargers are now 1-2 this season in five-set matches with all three being played at home so far and all three against non-conference opponents. Lea Sareyka advanced into 3rd-Place in LBC program history in career kills in the first game today, passing Ashtyn Bouslog (2016-19) and ending the day at 841 career kills for the Chargers.
 
Up Next:
The Chargers begin a three-game road trip on Tuesday, October 6 as they travel to La Plume, Pa. to take on Keystone at 6:00 p.m. in United East play.