ANNVILLE, Pa. – Senior Natalie Goodfellow threw down 27 kills and junior Jess Kender served up six aces in the third game as Lebanon Valley defeated Widener University 3-0 in Commonwealth Conference volleyball action Wednesday evening in the LVC Gymnasium.
Lebanon Valley (19-7, 3-3 CC), which is now one victory away from its sixth straight 20-win season, won by scores of 30-28, 30-19, 30-16.
After making five errors on 17 attempts in the first game, Goodfellow committed just one miscue over her final 28 attempts, finishing with a .467 hitting performance on 45 swings. Goodfellow is now 27 kills shy of her own single-season school record for kills (535) that she set last season.
Although LVC never trailed in the first game, it was still a tight set throughout. Back-to-back kills from sophomore Margaret Prebula and Goodfellow followed by a Widener attack error gave the Valley its biggest lead (29-22) of the game. However, the Pride rallied with a 6-0 run to make it a one-point game. But that's when sophomore Erin Yost delivered a setter dump to give her team a 1-0 lead.
Widener (10-15, 0-6 CC) went ahead for the first time on the night when it took an 8-7 lead in Game Two. It was 12-11 in favor of the Pride before Lebanon Valley took control with a 10-3 run, with Goodfellow throwing down four kills during the decisive stretch. Widener trailed by four (22-18) before the Valley finished the game on an 8-1 spurt.
Game 3 was never in doubt for Lebanon Valley, as Kender's red-hot serving, coupled by superb hitting from Goodfellow, fueled a 13-0 start. Amazingly, Kender and Goodfellow accounted for LVC's first 12 points of the game. Goodfellow opened the set with back-to-back kills, then slugged two more following Kender's first ace to make it 5-0. Kender then reeled off four consecutive aces, the last glancing off the top of the net and falling in for a "let serve" point. Two more Goodfellow kills, sandwiched around Kender's sixth ace, put the Valley up 12-0, and freshman Kay Lynn Zeiset capped the early Valley outburst with a kill.
Lebanon Valley saw its lead swell to as much as 17 (20-3) before cruising the rest of the way.
Prebula finished with 10 kills and just two errors on 26 attempts for a .308 hitting night. Goodfellow also had a match-high 12 digs while Yost handed out 41 assists. Junior Jill Miller contributed with three aces.
Lauren Albright and Kaitlyn Sharkey paced Widener with nine kills apiece.
Lebanon Valley returns to the court on Tuesday, when it visits Moravian College in its Commonwealth Conference regular-season finale.
-lvc-
