LVC-Ursinus Box Score
LVC-Haverford Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa.  – Lebanon Valley put up a furious rally, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth game, but Haverford College pulled out a 3-2 (30-24, 30-27, 24-30, 23-30, 15-12) win in LVC’s second game of the Flying Dutchman Tournament at a raucous LVC Gymnasium Friday evening.

Earlier in the day, LVC (7-4) swept Ursinus College 3-0 (30-18, 30-17, 30-19).

Senior Natalie Goodfellow posted 28 kills against Haverford, pushing her career kills total to 1,259. Heading into a pair of matches on Saturday, she is now 40 shy of the Lebanon Valley career record set last season by Lexi Horstman ’06. She also had a career-high 26 digs.

Freshman Whitney Meyers also enjoyed an outstanding match for the Valley, posting season-highs of 19 kills and eight blocks (two solo). Sophomore Margaret Prebula added 12 kills while freshman Janey Kozlowski came up with four block assists. Freshman Kay Lynn Zeiset had three block assists and sophomore Erin Yost distributed 54 assists for LVC, which fed off a lively student fan section the entire match.

In the first game, Haverford (11-1) took the lead for good when it was 9-8. A 6-2 Ford run made it 16-10, and the visitors would not trail by less than four the rest of the game.

Lebanon Valley led by three (19-16) midway through the second game, but an 8-2 Haverford run made it 24-22 in favor of the Fords. However, LVC came back to tie it twice, and a Meyers kill made it 27-27. But Haverford scored the final three points to go up 2-0 in the match.

The third game started in favor of Haverford, as it built a 5-1 lead in the early going. But that’s when the Valley peeled off a 9-1 run, with freshman Christa Vrabel serving up a pair of aces during the stretch, to go up 10-6, and LVC remained in the lead for the rest of the game.

Lebanon Valley was in command from start to finish in the fourth game, as the Blue and White never trailed. LVC scored six straight points to cap a 12-4 run, making it a 10-point (16-6) game, and Haverford never seriously threatened after that.

In the decisive fifth game, Lebanon Valley led briefly at 5-4 after back-to-back kills from Prubula, but that was the team’s only lead of the game. Haverford answered with a 6-0 run, but LVC refused to go quietly, as Meyers single-handedly brought her team back to life. She scored three straight points on back-to-back kills, followed by a block solo, to make it 10-9, and two plays later she threw down another kill to pull the Valley into an 11-11 tie. But Haverford found its offensive touch from there, scoring its final four points on kills to claim the match.

Four different players reached double figures in kills for Haverford, led by Rebecca Salvo’s 17. Laura Nuyen had 16, followed by Dana Mullenhard (12) and Rachel Salvo (10).

Against Ursinus, Goodfellow led the Valley with 13 kills and made just two errors on 29 attempts for a .379 hitting performance. Prebula also enjoyed an outstanding match, nailing 10 kills and making just one error on 17 attempts for a .529 mark.

Lebanon Valley never trailed in any of its three games against the Bears. In the first set, it was a 7-6 game before LVC opened up a seven-point lead with an 8-2 run. Ursinus closed the gap to five (15-10), but Lebanon Valley answered with a 7-2 spurt that gave the team its first double-digit lead (22-12) of the game. LVC’s lead would not dip under nine the rest of the way.

A 9-3 start, fueled by three Prebula kills, put LVC in control right from the beginning in Game 2. A 5-1 Ursinus surge made it 13-10, but the Valley regained control of the game with a 7-2 run.

Lebanon Valley started the third game in similar fashion, bolting to a 12-3 start thanks in part to a pair of kills apiece from Goodfellow and Meyers and back-to-back service aces from junior Jess Kender. The Bears were unable to reduce the deficit under six the remainder of the game.

Yost handed out 21 assists for the Valley while freshman Lisa Slata had 16 assists. Kender tied a career-high with four aces while junior Jill Miller had 10 digs. Meyers recorded four block assists.

Lebanon Valley hit .289 as a team and held Ursinus to -.019 hitting. Kelly Hosier led the Bears with six kills.

Lebanon Valley concludes tournament play on Saturday, facing Penn State Altoona at 9:30 a.m. before playing a final opponent at 1:30 or 3:30 p.m.

[Photo - Freshman Whitney Meyers, who had 19 kills and eight blocks against Haverford on Friday]

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