ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley volleyball team was down two sets to one, and 22-19 in the fourth set before rallying to defeat former conference rival Eastern University 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-11) on Saturday afternoon inside Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
The match was the first between the two teams since the Dutchmen departed the MAC Commonwealth for the MAC Freedom in 2023. Eastern (12-5) entered the day fresh off defeating Misericordia University in five sets last night, while LVC (6-11) was coming off a four-set battle on Tuesday with Stevens Institute of Technology.
 
The Eagles scored the first two points of the match. Teaguen Reynolds scored LVC's first point before Riley Mack put away back-to-back points to even things at three. Mack continued her great start to the match with two more points, and Jasmine Sullivan served up an ace to put the Dutchmen up 7-4. The teams traded the next seven points. Penner sandwiched a block assist by Jillian Jefferys and Reynolds with a kill and a perfectly placed serve. Eastern countered with the next three points to start a 10-4 run that gave them an 18-17 advantage in the set. Four consecutive errors by the Eagles, including back-to-back blocks by Reynolds, put the Dutchmen back ahead by three. Penner and Reynolds scored three of the final four points to give the Dutchmen a 1-0 lead after the 25-21 set win. Penner had six kills in the set and four digs, while Mack added five kills.
 
The second set started as a back-and-forth battle with LVC taking an early 4-3 lead after a Sullivan ace. Eastern tied the score and then scored four consecutive points to take the lead. The deficit for the Dutchmen was two at 12-10 when Eastern used another strong 5-1 rally to go up by six. The Dutchmen answered with a run of their own to get the lead back down to two points. Eastern responded with the next four points. Penner ended the run and then recorded another ace. The Eagles had a pair of blocks and took the second set 25-18 to even the match up at one.
 
Eastern scored the first three points of the third set and jumped out to a 7-2 advantage. The lead grew to 12-5 as LVC took its first timeout of the set. The Dutchmen came out of the timeout and immediately went to work on cutting into the deficit as Margaret Cole and Penner recorded points to ignite a big 7-3 run that got the advantage down to 15-12. Penner had three total points during the run. Eastern was able to get to 20 first as the teams split the next 10 points. The Eagles scored three of the next four points to build the advantage to 23-18. Reynolds kept the set going with an ace before Penner's fourth kill of the set made it 23-21. The Eagles were able to close out the set with the final two points to go up 2-1.
 
The beginning of the fourth set was a back-and-forth battle as the teams split the first 10 points. Libby Lindau gave the Dutchmen a 6-5 lead, and then Reynolds blocked her first attack of the set. Eastern scored the next three points, and LVC countered with four of the next five to take an 11-9 lead. The Eagles countered with three straight points before the teams traded points. The set was tied at 15 when Eastern used a 4-1 rally to go up by three. The lead was still three at 22-19 when Mack started a string of five straight points for the Dutchmen. Penner and Lindau had big kills to even the set at 22. Lindau and Cole blocked an attack to put LVC ahead, and on the second set point, Penner was able to record her fifth kill of the set to tie the match up.
 
The Dutchmen used the momentum of the late set rally to come out strong in the fifth set. Lindau had the first two points, and then Cole gave the quad a 3-0 lead. Eastern had a block assist for their first point before LVC scored the next five. Lindau recorded another point, and Penner had three consecutive points ending on a block assist with Reynolds to put the Dutchmen up 8-1. Eastern clawed their way back into the set and got within two at 12-10. Jefferys and Cole blocked an attack, Lindau recorded a kill, and Penner recorded another kill to get LVC to match point at 14-11. Reynolds and Lindau posted a big block to end the match and give the Dutchmen a thrilling comeback victory.
 
Inside the Box

• The win was LVC's third-ever victory over Eastern in 15 matches. The last time the Dutchmen defeated the Eagles was in 2019. That match was also a five-setter inside Sorrentino Gymnasium, where LVC won the first set and then needed to rally to win the last two.
• Penner finished with a season-high 23 kills, recording at least four in every set. The senior posted her sixth consecutive double-double as she added 15 digs. Penner also had three service aces and two total blocks for 27.5 points.
• Lindau had four kills in each of the fourth and fifth sets. She was second on the team with 11 kills and four block assists.
• Reynolds had a season-high eight total blocks with two solo and six block assists. The junior also had five kills, one ace, and three digs.
• Jefferys recorded 10.5 points on nine kills, three block assists, and two digs.
• Mack had 10 kills while hitting .333, her second-highest percentage of the season.
• Cole had five kills, two aces, and three total blocks.
• Sullivan led the squad with 28 assists. She also had two aces and four digs.
• Sofia Okronley added 23 assists and nine digs.
• Kylie Nagle led the Dutchmen with 16 digs. The sophomore also had five assists and one ace.
• The Dutchmen had a season-high 63 kills, a season-high .223 hitting percentage, a season-high 58 assists, and a season-high 82.0 points. Their 12 total blocks were the second-most this year.

Up Next
LVC will be back at Sorrentino Gymnasium on Wednesday evening for a big conference battle with Arcadia University. The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. against the Knights.

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