Boxscore
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – The Goldey-Beacom College volleyball team snapped a nine-match losing streak as a determined Lightning squad defeated Lincoln University, 3-0 in non-league play Tues. night at Manuel Rivero Hall.
GBC won the first set 25-14, the second 25-18 and closed out the match with a 25-20 third set victory.
With the win, GBC completed the season sweep of the Lions and improved to 4-10 on the season. Lincoln, in its first year as a full-fledged member of Division II athletics, fell to 2-18.
The Lightning outhit the Lions .125 (23 k 13e 80ta) to -.05 (18k 22e 70ta) and had a season-low two service return errors while Lincoln had 10. Graduate student Lauren Witzke had four of GBC's ten aces on the night.
Junior outside hitter Roni Shaner led GBC with seven kills while sophomores Catherine Howard and Renee DeLeo recorded four apiece. Junior middle hitter Rebecca Stoffer had three kills, two service aces and three blocks (one solo). Sophomore setter Monica Dempsey directed the offense with 12 assists.
GBC started slow in the first set, falling behind 6-2 before junior Amanda Mills', back after missing three matches with a concussion, recorded a kill to ignite the Lightning and help them storm back to knot the score at nine apiece. After a kill by Stoffer to pull in front 10-9, the Lightning would never trail again, using a 9-0 run to close out the set, 25-14.
In set two, GBC got off to a quick start and never looked back. The Lightning grabbed early leads of 5-1, 12-4 and 19-9 before the Lions knew what hit them. Three times Lincoln cut the deficit to five, but GBC left little doubt as the set ended on a Lion attack error. GBC took a 2-0 match lead on a 25-18 second-set victory.
With their first match victory since Sept. 7 knocking at the door, the Lightning answered the call in the third set with a 25-20 win. GBC was able to regroup from a shaky start and an early 10-6 deficit to close out the match.
After the ninth tie of the third set (18-18), the Lightning went on a 7-2 run that started with a kill by Shaner and ended with a kill by Howard, both from Dempsey.
Next up for GBC is a rematch on the road against the University of the District of Columbia. The Firebirds defeated the Lightning, 3-0 at the Jones Center back on Sept. 18.
