Lebanon Valley College Athletics

No. 3 Lebanon Valley def. No. 6 Geneva 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 24-26, 15-7)

LVC Starters
Quirk, Sides, Garrett (L), Moltz, Attieh, Weidemoyer, Barnhart

Geneva Starters
Hayes, Tuck, Dickson (L), Netherland, Test, Naples, Hughes

How It Happened
Lebanon Valley edged Geneva 3-2 in a thrilling five setter to advance to the ECAC South Semifinal round on Saturday. The Dutchmen improved to 22-10, while the Golden Tornadoes' season ended at 26-9.

In the opening set, Geneva jumped out to a 6-3 lead, however LVC came back to tie it at 12-12, capped off an Abbey Barnhart service ace. Tied at 14-14, the Dutchmen scored four in a row to make it 18-14. LVC was slightly up at 20-19 when the Dutchmen scored the set's final five points, including kills from Alli Quirk, Amber Deshong, and Emily Sides, to take it 25-19 and a 1-0 lead in the match.

It was another tight set in the second with the Golden Tornadoes ahead 10-8. From there, a 5-1 spurt increased Geneva's lead to 15-9. LVC would not go away quietly and came back late in the set to tie to at 22-22 thanks to a 13-7 run, but the Golden Tornadoes scored the last three points to win 25-22 and even the match at 1-1.

Tied at 10-10 in the third set, the two squads traded points until the Dutchmen led 22-19. When Geneva came to within one of LVC at 23-22, Jess Attieh notched back-to-back kills to take the third set 25-22 and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Up by three at 16-13 in the fourth set, LVC saw its lead evaporate as a 6-3 run helped the Golden Tornadoes take a 19-18 advantage. At match point (24-23), Geneva rattled off three in a row to win the set 26-24 and send the match to a fifth set.

The first part of the final set was just like the rest of the match, as the Dutchmen held a slight 7-5 lead. From there, LVC scored five in a row to take a commanding 12-5 lead. Later at 14-7, a Geneva attack error handed the Dutchmen the set (15-7) and the match (3-2).

Inside the Numbers
 - Attieh led the offensive attack with a match-high 17 kills, while Quirk (16) and Amber Deshong (13) were also in double digits in kills.
 - Greta Weidemoyer recorded four aces, while Quirk Weidemoyer and Deshong had two blocks apiece.
 - Moltz was impressive with 53 assists, while Allie Garrett notched 23 digs and Morgan Webb added 11 and Emily Sides had eight.

Oh So Close
Coming into tonight's match, Sides needed nine digs for her 1,000th of her career, however she recorded eight and sits at 999. She will have a prime opportunity to reach that milestone on Saturday against Swarthmore.

Bring on the Garnet
LVC will travel to Carnegie Mellon to take on Swarthmore in the ECAC South Semifinal matchup. No. 1 Carnegie Mellon will take on no. 4 Bethany in the other semifinal matchup. Back on Oct. 17, the Dutchmen battled the Garnet, but fell in a tough five-setter. The winners of each semifinal match advance to the championship game which takes place Saturday evening.