The Lancaster Bible College Men's Volleyball team is tournament-bound as they earned an automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III Championship after winning the United East title on Saturday afternoon. The Chargers are set to face #19 Endicott in the Play-In Round on Thursday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. in Hoboken, N.J. on the campus of host site and #4 Stevens. This is Lancaster Bible's fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history and their third in a row, appearing in 2018, 2024, 2025, and now 2026.
The Chargers have already had a successful season with a 17-11 record thus far, their fifth straight season with 17+ wins and their fourth straight undefeated conference season as they finished 8-0 in the United East. The Chargers clinched the outright UEC regular season title and home court throughout the playoffs, defeating #5-seed Gallaudet 3-0 in the Semifinals and besting #2-seed Wilson 3-0 in the title game to bring home the hardware. The Chargers are led by standout-junior
Kevin Bryant, leading the United East with a .450 hitting percentage and 91 total blocks earning United East All-Conference First Team honors as well as United East Tournament MVP. Bryant also was named to the AVCA Division III Region II First Team for his outstanding season, ranking fourth in the country in hitting percentage and 24th in Division III in blocks per set at 0.948. Also leading the charge for Lancaster Bible is sophomore
Timothy Fletcher, leading the United East with 909 total assists and 9.88 assists per set, good for 11th in the nation and United East All-Conference First Team honors. Also leading the Chargers is United East Rookie of the Year and All-Conference First Team selection
Braden Escover (Fr.), leading the Chargers with 261 total kills and adding 31 service aces and 147 digs. In addition,
Carson Hoover (Jr.) earned All-Conference First Team recognition with 247 total kills and 171 digs, while
Zeke Clark (Jr.) was named to the Second Team and leads the Chargers with 46 total service aces.
Matchup History: #19 Endicott
This is the Chargers' first-ever matchup with Endicott and the first time any LBC program has squared off with the Gulls. Endicott made the NCAA Tournament by earning the automatic qualification from the New England Volleyball Conference (NEVC), defeating Nichols 3-0 in the Final on Saturday. The Gulls are led by a pair of AVCA All-Region I selections in Dan Battista (Jr.) and Aidan Iacovelli (Sr.), with Battista ranking second in the nation in digs per set at 3.71 (293 total digs) and Iacovelli ranking 12th in the nation in kills per set at 3.93 (338 total kills).
How to Follow:
To follow the action, live streaming and live stats links will be available on the team's schedule page under the matchup before the start of the game. Make sure to follow along and support the Chargers as the represent Lancaster Bible on the national stage!
