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PIKE CREEK, Del. – A very determined Goldey-Beacom College volleyball team came out and won the first set, 25-23, but allowed visiting Holy Family to win three straight sets (25-16, 25-8, 25-22) and claim a 3-1 victory Tues. night at the Jones Center.
The Lightning fell to 5-13 overall and 0-10 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference while Holy Family, third in the CACC South Division, improved to 10-9 overall and 9-3 in league play.
Sophomore Monica Dempsey, who now shares setting duties with junior Roni Shaner while also playing outside hitter, led the team with a season-high nine kills. She also had a season-high 18 digs and eight assists. Shaner had a double-double with a team-high 10 assists and 10 digs while also contributing three kills and one service ace.
GBC, which for the second straight match had a season-high 56 digs as a team, had three players in double-figures for digs: Dempsey (18), senior defensive specialist A.J. Hicks (15) and Shaner (10). Graduate student Lauren Witzke also added seven.
Sophomore middle hitter Catherine Howard had four kills and four solo blocks and junior middle hitter Rebecca Stoffer had six kills and one solo block.
Defense carried the Lightning to victory in the first set as GBC hit -.06 percent (7k 9e 32ta) but held HFU to just .042 percent (13k 11e 48ta) hitting and earned a thrilling, hard-fought set victory. Dempsey led the way early with three kills on her first three attack attempts and Hicks twice caught the Tigers out of position for two kills as well.
Early on it looked like GBC might take a 2-0 match lead, but HFU pulled away late to win the second set by hitting 11 kills to just four errors on 29 swings (.241 percent). Stoffer had four of her six kills for the night in that set and Howard had two of her four, but it was not enough as the Lightning took a 25-16 second-set loss.
The third set, things began to unravel for the Lightning as they hit -.20 (3k 8e 24 ta) en-route to a lopsided 25-8 loss.
The Lightning gave a valiant effort in the fourth set, hitting .231 (9k 3e 26ta) led by Dempsey's three kills and one kill apiece by Hicks, Wells, Stoffer, Shaner, Howard and sophomore Renee DeLeo. The lead traded hands several times, with GBC at one point holding an 18-16 advantage. But HFU would persevere and pull out a 25-22 fourth-set win and claim the 3-1 match victory.
Up next for GBC is a visit to CACC rival Chestnut Hill College on Thurs. night at 7 p.m. The Griffins handed the Lightning a bitter, 3-1 loss at the Jones Center on Youth Volleyball Night back on Sept. 16. GBC will look to avenge that loss Thurs. night and even the season series.
