GLASSBORO, N.J. – Mattea Penner had 16 kills, 16 digs, and six aces to lead the Lebanon Valley Volleyball team to a 3-1 victory at Rowan University in the final non-conference match of the year on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Dutchmen (15-11) dropped a close first set 30-28 and then won the next three sets 26-24, 25-19, and 25-23 to spoil Rowan's Senior Day. The Profs (14-12) won two of the first three points in the match. LVC came right back as Penner had her first kill of the game which was followed by back-to-back kills from Taylor McInerney. Penner served up her first ace to put the Dutchmen up 5-2. Rowan used a 5-2 run to tie the set up at seven and continued the strong play to take a 12-9 lead. The Dutchmen countered with a 7-1 run ending with a Sofia Okronley service ace to retake a 16-13 lead. The Profs called a timeout and came out of the break with a run to retake the lead at 20-18. They were able to get to set point with a three-point advantage. An attack error by Rowan, a block by Jillian Jefferys and Teaguen Reynolds, and another ace by Okronley tied things up at 24. LVC was able to take a 27-26 lead following a Reynolds ace, but Rowan won four of the final five points to take the opening set.
 
Penner had a kill and an ace to lead an early charge in the second set as the Dutchmen got out to a 5-2 lead. The lead extended to 8-4 following a Lyla Arfanella service ace forcing the Profs to call a timeout. Rowan scored eight of the next nine points to take the lead in the set. Libby Lindau stopped the run with a big solo block and two points later, Okronley tied the set with her third service ace. The teams battled back and forth over the rest of the set until it was tied at 24. Jefferys put away a kill and then Reynolds had another ace to tie the match up at one set apiece.
 
The Profs scored the first two points of the third set before Reynolds had three of the next four kills to put the Dutchmen up by two. Rowan responded with a 6-1 run to take a three-point advantage. The lead grew to 10-6 with the Dutchmen calling a timeout to stop the run. Lindau started a 4-0 spurt coming out of the timeout as Arfanella added two service aces. The set was tied at 12 when Rowan scored five consecutive points to take the lead back. LVC responded with a huge 9-0 run. Penner started the run with a kill and two aces. She had four total aces during the stretch that gave the Dutchmen a 21-17 advantage. Reynolds and Jasmine Sullivan added aces over the final six points of the set as LVC took a 2-1 lead.
 
Penner and McInerney got the Dutchmen out to a 3-2 lead in the fourth set. The lead grew to 8-4 forcing the Profs to call a timeout to try and save the lead from growing any further. They responded by scoring eight of the next 11 points to take a 12-11 advantage. The Dutchmen were able to tie the set at 14 on a block assist from McInerney and Margaret Cole before Sullivan gave LVC back the lead with an ace. Rowan countered with a small run to take a 19-17 lead. Cole, Lindau, and a pair of attack errors by the Profs gave LVC back a two-point advantage. Rowan tied the set up and it was still tied at 23 when Reynolds and McInerney ended things with back-to-back kills.
 
Inside the Box

• Penner had another great match with a double-double of 16 kills and 16 digs. She added a season-high six aces.
• McInerney had a match-high 19 kills on 38 attacks. The outside hitter also had two total blocks and six digs.
• Reynolds had another strong match with a season-high six aces, four blocks, and five kills.
• Okronley added three aces and a season-high 31 assists with seven digs while Sullivan had 11 assists and two aces.
• Souder recorded 14 digs and four assists while Arfanella had three aces.
• The Dutchmen had a season-high 21 aces.

Up Next
LVC will wrap up the regular season on Wednesday with a trip up to Dallas to face Misericordia University at 7 p.m. inside the Anderson Center. A win against the Cougars will clinch at least a tie for the MAC Freedom regular season title while a loss would drop the Dutchmen to the fourth seed for the conference tournament.

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