WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley College women's volleyball team swept a tri-match against a pair of United East teams on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over Gallaudet University and a 3-0 sweep of host Penn College at Bardo Gymnasium in Williamsport.
Match One vs. Gallaudet (25-16, 18-25, 25-14, 25-19)
The Dutchmen began the day with a 3-1 victory over the Bison. Gallaudet came out strong, winning the first four points of the match after defeating Penn College in the opening match of the day. The Bison led 7-3 when
Libby Lindau had back-to-back points to cut the lead in half. After a pair of points for the Bison,
Riley Mack and
Molly Thomas fueled a 5-1 rally to tie the set at 10.
Jasmine Sullivan served up an ace to give LVC the lead, and then the Dutchmen extended the lead to 20-12 as
Hadley Sparks and
Jillian Jefferys paced the offensive attack. The teams traded points, and LVC closed out the set 25-16.
Sullivan began the second set with an ace, but then the Bison scored seven of the next 10 points to take a 7-4 advantage. Sparks and Mack fired up a five-point run to take a 9-7 lead before Gallaudet responded with a 10-1 rally. The Dutchmen attempted to battle back in the set, but the run proved to be too much, and GU evened the match with a 25-18 set victory.
The third set started the same as the first two, with the Bison holding an early lead at 6-3. Lindau started a 6-1 run that gave LVC the lead at 9-7. Gallaudet responded and tied the set at 12. Reynolds had a pair of service aces to begin a decisive rally for the Dutchmen as they won 12 of the next 13 points to get to set point at 24-13. Sparks had four kills during the run. Lindau ended the set with a kill to put LVC ahead 2-1.
The Dutchmen came out strong to begin the fourth set, taking a 10-4 lead as Sparks added five more points to her total. The team traded runs, and back-to-back service aces by Sullivan gave LVC a 14-7 advantage. The teams continued to trade points as the set went on, with the lead staying between six and eight points the rest of the way, with the Dutchmen winning the set 25-19.
Inside the Box
- Sparks dominated the attack with a season-high 20 kills on a blistering .471 hitting percentage, while adding 15 digs.
- Sullivan orchestrated the offense with 37 assists, while contributing four service aces, three kills, and three digs.
- Reynolds stuffed the stat sheet with five kills, four aces, and two block assists.
- Jefferys provided a strong presence at the net with seven kills.
- Mack added six kills, five digs, and a block assist.
- Thomas anchored the back row with a team-high 23 digs and an ace.
Match Two vs. Penn (25-21, 25-14, 25-8)
LVC came out firing against the Wildcats in the final match of the afternoon. They scored the first four points of the match behind a service ace from Mack and back-to-back blocks by Jefferys and
Breanne Rotz. Penn answered with the next four points before a kill by Jefferys and back-to-back aces by
Kylie Nagle put the Dutchmen back on top. The hosts would not go away and fought their way to a 12-11 lead.
Sofia Rios and Mack fueled a big 7-1 run with two service aces each to put LVC back in the lead. The Wildcats kept things close and closed the gap to 21-20 before
Ellie Baldrige and Mack scored three consecutive points to get to set point. Mack then ended the set with her fifth kill of the set.
The momentum continued into the second set as the Dutchmen opened a big 10-2 lead with four more aces, two by Rios and two by Mack, and strong play at the net. The teams traded points and short rallies until a 4-0 run for the Wildcats made it 17-12. The Dutchmen answered right back with four points and got to set point with a kill by Jefferys, an ace from Nagle, and then a kill by Baldrige. Penn ended the set with an attack error to put the Dutchmen up 2-0.
The third set belonged completely to LVC as they scored 14 of the first 15 points. Mack had two more aces at the beginning of the run while the Dutchmen took advantage of multiple errors by the Wildcats. Penn was able to muster up a small run to cut the lead to 17-6 before LVC closed the door with a 6-0 rally. Sparks ended the match with her fourth kill of the set.
Inside the Box
- Sparks hammered down a team-high 12 kills while hitting .385, adding 11 digs to post a double-double.
- Mack had a strong match with six kills, a match-high seven service aces, and seven digs.
- Jefferys was strong once again at the net with six kills on a stellar .500 hitting percentage and four total blocks.
- Baldrige contributed seven kills while attacking at an efficient .412 clip, along with a block assist.
- Rios directed the offense with 25 assists and added four service aces and two digs.
- Nagle provided strong ball control with nine digs and two service aces.
- Laylah Chestnut anchored the back row with 10 digs.
Up Next
The Dutchmen will look to stay unbeaten in conference play on Wednesday, October 7, as they travel to Center Valley to face DeSales University in the first conference road match of the year. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Billera Hall.
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