Box Score

GRANTHAM, Pa. - Lebanon Valley College moved a step closer to securing a spot in the Commonwealth Conference - and possible home court advantage in the first round - with a 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-17, 25-17) win at Messiah.

The Dutchmen are now 4-1 in Commonwealth Conference play and 23-1 overall. They are tied with Widener in second place behind 5-0 Elizabethtown in the CC regular season standings. The Dutchmen host E-Town in the final CC match of the year on Oct. 28.

A ferocious first set put LVC on top. The Dutchmen hit .458 in the opening stanza, with 12 kills on 24 attacks with only one error. In the second set, LVC again sent home 12 kills, but their eight errors contributed to Messiah's ability to take the set by a three-point margin and even the match.

From there, LVC went back to what worked best in the first set, finishing the match with a pair of 25-17 wins that matched the first-set score.

Emily Hopkins was the focal point of LVC's offense, finishing the match with 12 kills. She took 42 swings in the match, with just five errors. Joelle Snyder followed with 11 kills while Jamie Hawk had eight and Michelle Little finished with seven. Jess Raber had six kills without an error to hit .333 for the match.

Snyder was a big part of the serving game, ending the match with five aces. Angela Kuperavage had three points off the serve.

Three players had 9 or more digs for the Dutchmen, led by Angela Kuperavage and her 20. Emily Perkins had 13 digs to go with her 36 assists and Hannah Free had nine.

As cohesive as the Dutchmen were in the receiving and passing game, they were just as together on the block. LVC finished with 14 total blocks. Snyder had one solo stop while assisting on five others. Raber had three block assists and Hawk and Perkins each added two.

The Dutchmen are off until they host Alvernia on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.