Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. - If the action at LVC Gymnasium on Wednesday night was any indicator, next week's Commonwealth Conference playoffs will have fans on the edge of their seats.
In front of a crowd full of boisterous supporters, Lebanon Valley College stormed back on Elizabethtown College for a 3-2 (16-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-19, 16-14) win to lock up home-court advantage in next week's conference playoffs. The two teams are have matching 6-1 record in CC play, but the Dutchmen snag the top seed via the win tonight. The Dutchmen improve to 27-2 overall and the Blue Jays fall to 17-8.
In the first set, LVC dug a hole for itself early with three attack errors out of the first four points - all going to E-Town. The Dutchmen battled back, getting to within a point on two occasions at 3-4 and 7-8, but six-point Blue Jay run in the middle of the set opened up a 16-8 lead from which LVC could not recover. Attack errors did in the Dutchmen, as the hitters misfired 10 times in the first set.
In the second frame, neither team was able to gain control early. There were five lead changes before another six-point run gave E-Town a 19-16 lead late. With the score 21-19 in favor of Elizabethtown, Kills from Jamie Hawk, Jess Raber, and Michelle Little turned things around for LVC, which then led 22-21. Two kills from Joelle Snyder - including an unassisted stuff of an over from E-Town - ended the set and tied the match.
The third set was all E-Town early. The Blue Jays flew out to leads of 9-2 and 15-5, forcing LVC to take timeouts early. The Dutchmen mounted a comeback, scoring five of seven points to close the gap to 17-19. After a timeout, the Blue Jays scored the next two points to recapture a four-point lead at 21-17, then cruised to the 25-19 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The beginning of a set again stymied LVC in the fourth set, as a 9-0 run turned a 6-5 Dutchmen lead into a 14-6 E-Town advantage. LVC regained composure, closing the gap to 15-13 thanks in part to controlled serving from Angela Kuperavage. She picked up two aces in the run. Still trailing 13-16, LVC staved off a loss with a 12-3 run to end the set. With the score 10-19 in favor of the Dutchmen, Michelle Little sandwiched two kills around an E-Town attack error and then Jess Raber hammered home two kills to force a fifth and deciding set.
Kuperavage dialed up two aces to open the fifth set, but Kayla Deats tied the set with two kills for the Blue Jays. The set was the epitome of close, with 12 ties after the opening 0-0 score. LVC only trailed twice, at 7-8 and 8-9. Late in the set, it was Snyder's turn to carry her team. She had four kills to turn the 8-9 deficit into a 12-10 LVC lead. However, in the final moments of the tight set, it was back to Little and Raber, as each scored two kills to lock up the win. Raber's two kills came in a row with the match tied, 14-14, to set of the celebration for the Dutchmen.
Snyder finished with a match-high 18 kills on 41 attempts to just three errors (.366) while Little had 10 kills and only three errors on 27 swings. Raber and Emily Hopkins each had nine kills.
Emily Perkins had 47 assists and seven digs from her setter position. Kuperavage had 22 digs and a team-high six aces. Hannah Free had 10 digs and Little added nine. On the block, Snyder had one solo stop while assisting on five. Raber was in on three and Perkins, Little and Jamie Hawk each combined on two stuffs apiece.
LVC is at Moravian for a pair of matches this Saturday before returning to Annville for the Commonwealth Conference semifinal on Nov. 4.
