Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. - The Lebanon Valley College volleyball team needed five games, but came out on top to win a see-saw Commonwealth Conference semifinal match, 3-2 (30-21, 28-30, 30-21, 27-30, 15-10) over Messiah College Wednesday at the LVC Gymnasium.

The Dutchmen (22-8) will head to Elizabethtown College on Saturday for the championship game, at a time to be announced. Both teams will be chasing their first-ever conference title.

Sophomore Whitney Meyers had a career night for the Dutchmen, throwing down 25 kills and hitting .541. The Falcons (21-11) committed attack 39 errors to LVC's 20.

Freshman Emily Perkins had 62 assists and 16 digs for LVC, while senior Jill Miller (23 digs) and sophomore Christa Vrabel (22 digs, 2 aces) were key to the defensive effort.

Freshman Jess Raber and junior Margaret Prebula pitched in 12 kills apiece.

After a 30-21 walk in game one, game two turned into a tight battle with neither side leading by more than four points. With LVC up 28-27, Messiah's Amy Stabler threw down a kill to tie it at 28, and a Perkins error gave Messiah game ball. Out of an LVC timeout, Samantha Bradley struck the kill and gave Messiah the game.

It looked as if Messiah carried the momentum over into the third game as the Falcons ran out to a 16-13 lead. But LVC, led by service runs from Raber and Vrabel, went on a 9-2 run from there to take a 22-18 lead. After a Messiah timeout, the Dutchmen didn't relent, and ended the game with an 8-2 tear.

Game four ended up much like game two, with both teams battling and trading the lead until Messiah found a run at the end. With the game tied at 26, LVC hit into two straight errors, and after Hopkins' kill made it 28-27 Messiah, Leslie Heffner and Amy Stabler finished off the game with kills of their own.

LVC bounced back and never trailed in the fifth game, running out to a 10-5 lead and maintaining a five-point margin to the end. Joelle Snyder's kill gave Brandi Roth match serve, and Heffner's attack error sealed the victory for the Dutchmen.