Boxscore Game 1
Boxscore Game 2

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Goldey-Beacom College volleyball team won its season opener over Virginia State in straight sets but dropped the night-cap to Le Moyne, 3-0 in the "Battle in the Nation's Capital" tournament hosted by University of the District of Columbia. The Lightning defeated VSU by scores of 25-8, 25-15 and 25-19 and fell to the Dolphins 25-21, 25-13, 30-28.

Against Virginia State, senior middle hitter Rebecca Stoffer (eight kills, three service aces) and junior setter Monica Dempsey (25 assists) led the way offensively while the Lightning held the Trojans to a -.10 hitting percentage for the match. GBC hit .262 as a team, which was the team's highest hitting percentage since Oct. 31, 2009 when the Lightning hit .315 against Felician.

Freshmen Taylor Moyer (six kills) Kadi McCoy (six kills) and Niki Receveur (nine digs) also shined in their collegiate debuts.

Stoffer (eight kills), Moyer (six kills) and McCoy (seven kills) led a balanced Lightning attack while Dempsey served up 26 assists to go with 10 digs against Le Moyne.

The Lightning, down 2-0, gave a valiant effort in the third set and extended the match a few different occasions before ultimately falling, 30-28 and conceding the match.

Match 1: GBC vs. Virginia State

Stoffer dominated from her middle position in the early going, converting four of her six attack attempts for kills, with no errors in the first set.  As a team, the Lightning combined for 13 kills and just two errors (.367 hitting percentage) while they forced 10 Trojan miscues. GBC cruised to a 25-8 set win.

GBC continued to hit the ball very well into the second game, collecting seven kills on 22 attack attempts with zero errors. Meanwhile, VSU committed 12 errors to counteract its eight kills, and the Lightning won the set 25-15.

The Lightning featured a balanced attack in set three as Moyer came through with four kills, junior middle hitter Catherine Howard stepped up with three, and McCoy delivered two to help power the Lightning to a 25-19 victory.

Match 2: GBC vs. Le Moyne

Goldey-Beacom jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, but Le Moyne countered with a 7-2 run featuring three kills by Kelli Willets. The Lightning forced an 8-8 tie and continued to hang around throughout the set, never trailing by more than four.

Trailing 18-14, the Lightning went on a 7-0 surge powered by two Moyer service aces and a kill by freshman middle hitter, Emily Shustack.

But following a Le Moyne timeout, Willets delivered a kill to spark a 7-0 Dolphin run to close out the set. The Lightning had no answer for Allison Hebel's jump-serve as she collected three aces and GBC committed two erros during the run, which led to a 25-21 first-set win for Le Moyne.

The Lightning struggled to find their rythm in the second set, combining for seven kills and nine errors while the Dolphins hit a swelting .364 (10 kills, two errors).  Le Moyne cruised to a 25-13 victory and extended its match lead to 2-0.

The third set saw a determined GBC squad jump out to an early 5-2 advantage on the strength of excellent service by Dempsey. The Lightning would then surrender the next three points, however, and the see-saw battle was on.

After the seventh tie of the match at nine apiece, Shustack and McCoy combined for three kills during a 4-0 Lightning surge to take a 13-9 lead.

GBC led by as many as seven (19-12), but the Dolphins scored eight of the next 10 points to close within one, 21-20. A kill by McCoy followed by a Dolphin bad set extended the Lightning's lead to 23-20, but Le Moyne scored three consecutive points to force yet another tie.

The Lightning had a chance to put the set away after a Dolphin attack error gave them a 24-23 lead, but Morgan McDermott extended match play with a kill.

The two teams traded points the rest of the way, each team with a few different opportunities to close out the set. Finally, a service error and an attack error resulted in two straight Dolphin points to give them a 30-28 third set victory.

GBC is back in action at the UDC gym tomorrow to take on Elizabeth City State University at 10 a.m. and the tournament host Firebirds at 4 p.m.