PIKE CREEK, Del. - The Goldey-Beacom College volleyball team was on the verge of sending Holy Family its first conference loss of the season up 2-0, but the Lightning could not put the Tigers away as they fell, 3-2 at the Joseph West Jones Center Thurs. night. GBC won the first two sets 26-24 and 25-19, and then dropped the final three sets: 16-25, 24-26 and 15-17.
The Lightning (6-6, 2-2 CACC) out-hit the second-best hitting percentage team in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, .241 to .186, and twice they had a chance to win the match with leads of 14-13 and 15-14 in the fifth set, but the Tigers rallied to score the final three points of the match and sneak out of the Jones Center with a remarkable comeback victory.
Junior setter
Monica Dempsey had a career-high 44 assists as four different Lightning players tallied double-figure kills. Freshmen
Taylor Moyer and
Kadi McCoy had 14 and 10 kills, respectively, while seniors
Roni Shaner and
Rebecca Stoffer added 12 and 11, respectively. Freshman middle hitter
Emily Shustack also had a big night with eight kills and three blocks (two solo).
The Lightning were just as impressive defensively with a team total of 97 digs, including 24 by McCoy and 23 by freshman libero
Niki Receveur. Dempsey (17), Moyer (16) and Shaner (12) were also in double-figures in that category.
GBC scored the first three points of the match, and thanks in part to kills by Shaner and Moyer, the Lightning jumped out to an early 11-4 lead and forced a HFU timeout. Goldey-Beacom would extend that lead to 15-6 before a 9-1 Tiger run helped the visitors pull within a point.
Leading 16-15, Dempsey led the Lightning on a 4-0 run to take a 20-15 advantage. Later, two kills by Shustack would help GC claim a 24-20 lead, but the Tigers ran off four straight points to force extended set play. Finally, a HFU attack error followed by a McCoy kill led to a 26-24 Lightning win and a 1-0 match lead.
The hosts jumped out to another early lead in set two, helped by two kills by Stoffer and consecutive kills by Moyer, Shustack and Shaner. With Shaner's kill, the Lightning went in front 7-2 and forced a HFU timeout.
Goldey-Beacom was about as efficient offensively in the second set as a team can be, swatting 18 kills to just three errors for a hitting percentage of .375. Moyer and McCoy combined for eight kills in the set, as the Lightning never let HFU within three en-route to a convincing, 25-19 set win.
Holy Family, which ran off three set victories after falling behind 1-0 to win the last match between these two South Division foes, was determined to extend match play with a set three victory. The Tigers scored the first two points of the set and grabbed an early 6-2 lead.
The Lightning responded with a 7-1 run highlighted by a kill apiece by Moyer and McCoy to pull in front, 9-7. That would be the last Lightning lead, however, as HFU ran off the next three points and never trailed in the set again. Leading 13-12, HFU went on a 9-2 run to take a 22-14 lead, and went on to win the set 25-16.
Riding the momentum of their set three victory, the Tigers raced to a 5-0 lead in the fourth set. The Lightning fought their way back slowly but surely until they eventually took their first lead, 18-17. Shustack had two blocks and McCoy had a kill during what amounted to a 5-1 Lightning surge.
Following a HFU timeout, the Tigers earned the next point to force a deadlock at 18. Six more ties and six lead changes would ensue in a wild finish. A solo block by Stoffer gave GBC its last lead of the set, 23-22, but HFU scored the next two points to pull ahead 24-23. After a long volley, GBC secured the next point to tie the match at 24, but the Tigers scored the next two points, the second of which was a kill by Katie Hornback to finish the set, 26-24 and send the match to a fifth and final set.
GBC, which came in at 1-1 in matches that went a full five sets, went toe-to-toe with last year's CACC runner-up in set five as the Jones Center crowd tried to will the Lightning to victory. There were several ties and lead changes in the early-going, but HFU would pull in front 9-6 and later 10-7.
The Lightning then stormed out on a 4-0 run culminating in a Moyer kill which gave GBC an 11-10 lead. The division rivals then traded points back and forth, neither team willing to concede a lead of more than one.
Trailing 13-12, consecutive Lightning kills by Shaner and Dempsey put GBC ahead 14-13 with the chance to end the match with one more point.
As they had done four out of the five times following called timeouts during the night, the Tigers earned the next point after they had called a timeout and forced a 14-14 tie. A Tiger service error gave GBC another opportunity to win the match, up 15-14, but again the Lightning could not close the deal.
With the score knotted at 15, Jillian Keeve's service ace gave HFU the lead, 16-15. Lightning head coach Rich Bowers called a timeout, but Holy Family was able to finish off the match on the next play with a kill by Cara Przbylowicz.
Bowers' young Lightning squad, which features four freshmen in the starting lineup, is now 1-2 in matches that go a full five sets. In both losses, GBC controlled leads of 2-0 before ultimately losing, 3-2. The Lightning did however become the first team in the conference to take a set from Holy Family, as the Tigers had shut out three straight CACC opponents coming in.
The Lightning are back at the Jones Center on Sat. to host CACC foe Felician College at 1 p.m.
