HOBOKEN, N.J. – Taylor McInerney had a match-high 21 kills to lead the Lebanon Valley volleyball team in a tough 3-1 defeat at top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Championship match.
 
The Dutchmen (17-12) won the first set 25-16 over the Ducks (21-9) to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Stevens came back to tie the match with a 25-23 set two victory. They then won the next two sets 25-17 and 25-15 to win their fourth consecutive MAC Freedom title.
 
The Ducks scored four of the first five points to take an early lead before LVC went on a six-point streak with Kasey Thomas serving to go up 7-4. Stevens was able to get within two at 11-9 before LVC ratted off nine of the next 11 points to take a 20-11 advantage. The Ducks were able to get within six before LVC closed out the set on a Mattea Penner kill and Teaguen Reynolds ace.
 
LVC came out swinging in the second set and built a 5-3 lead. The Ducks scored a pair of points to tie it up before McInerney sandwiched a bad set by Stevens with a pair of kills. The hosts used a big rally to retake a 14-10 lead. LVC responded with a rally of their own with Penner serving to go up by one at 17-16. The set was tied at 20 before Stevens won three straight points. They were able to get to set point at 24-21 but the Dutchmen responded with a pair of points. Stevens won the set with a kill to even things up.
 
The Dutchmen started strong once again in the third set scoring five of the first seven points. Stevens responded with a five-point rally to go up by two. The teams battled back and forth to a 9-9 tie. The Ducks then scored five consecutive points before LVC scored a trio of points to make it 14-12. Stevens outscored the Dutchmen 11-5 the rest of the way to take a 2-1 lead.
 
The fourth set started out close with the teams tied at five after the first 10 points. The Ducks grabbed a 10-7 lead with four straight points and built their advantage p to 13-9. Penner and Cole had a pair of kills to cut the lead down to two. The Ducks scored five of the next seven points to go up by five. McInerney cut it to four with her final kill of the match before the Ducks finished strong to take the set 25-15.
 
Inside the Box

• McInerney recorded over 20 kills in a match for the 18th time this year. The senior recorded her 1,000th kill as a Dutchman.
• Stepler had another strong match with 46 assists, six digs, and two block assists.
• Cole finished with 10 kills, three block assists, and a .421 hitting percentage.
• Penner had seven kills and nine digs.
• Kasey Thomas recorded 11 digs to lead the defense. She also had two aces.

Up Next
LVC sees their amazing season come to an end in the Conference Championship match. The Dutchmen reached the conference final for the first time since 2011.

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