OWINGS MILLS, Md. – The Stevenson men's volleyball team fell to Lancaster Bible in a thrilling five-set match Wednesday evening at Owings Mills gymnasium. Set scores were 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 18-25 and 14-16.
The Mustangs (4-7 overall) took an early 8-4 lead in the opening frame on the heels of back-to-back kills from
Aidan O'Brien and
Ryan Thenell. The sides traded points to the 15-12 mark before Lancaster Bible (7-3 overall) overtook the Mustang lead with a 5-1 run to the 16-17 mark. Stevenson regained the advantage with a 9-2 run to close out the set at 25-19.
Elliot De La Torre added a kill and a block in the run while
Jack Braverman and
Ryan Thenell each added kills.
Lancaster Bible led the second set wire-to-wire, hitting .321 while holding Stevenson to a .053 hit percentage. The Chargers leveraged a 10-18 lead before Thenell and De La Torre paired up for a block to slow the momentum. The Mustangs chipped away at the lead with a 6-3 run to narrow the gap to 18-22. LBC closed the set with a 3-1 run to take the second set 19-25.
In the third set, Stevenson hit for .333 while Lancaster Bible hit for .135 as the teams battled through four tie scores and two lead changes, all of which took place before a team recorded its 10
th point. Stevenson took a 13-9 advantage with a three-point rally that consisted of a kill each from
Ryan Thenell and
Elliot De La Torre and a block by the duo. The Chargers narrowed the gap to 14-13, but a 7-2 run set the Mustangs pace at 21-15. The sides traded points to the 24-20 mark before another kill from Thenell gave Stevenson the set at 25-20.
The fourth set saw four tie scores but zero lead changes as the Chargers were unwilling to relinquish their lead. With the set tied at seven apiece, LBC used a 5-1 run to leverage a 8-12 lead. Stevenson narrowed the lead to 11-13 on a kill from De La Torre, but another 5-1 run from LBC set the pace at 12-18. The Mustangs continued to chip away at the advantage with back-to-back kills from Thenell and De La Torre at the 13-18 mark, but the Chargers mustered the final two tallies to take the fourth set 18-25.
The see-saw battle continued in the fifth frame. Lancaster Bible opened a 12-6 lead before a kill from
Doug Hines sparked a 6-1 run to the 12-13 mark, capped off by kills from
Jack Braverman and
Ryan Thenell. The Chargers halted the momentum momentarily before a kill from Thenell and an ace from De La Torre knotted the frame at 14 apiece. Two long rallies ensued, each falling in favor of the Chargers to give Lancaster Bible the final set at 14-16.
Numbers and Notes
What's Next
- Stevenson returns to action on Friday, February 17 at 7pm when it travels to SUNY New Paltz.
- The Mustangs will then face MIT (2pm) and Vassar (4pm) during a tri-match hosted by Vassar on Saturday, February 18.
