OWINGS MILLS, Md. - The Stevenson women's volleyball team earned a 3–1 MAC Commonwealth victory over Messiah on Wednesday evening at Owings Mills Gymnasium, winning by set scores of 26–24, 19–25, 25–18, and 28–26. The Mustangs battled through a pair of tightly contested sets while using a strong offensive performance to secure their third conference win of the season.
Set 1: Stevenson and Messiah traded points early in the opening set before the Mustangs built an 18–13 advantage behind kills from
Sydney Salazar,
Rachel Lenz, and
Maren Zepfel.
Messiah responded with an 8–1 run to take a 20–19 lead, but Stevenson continued to fight. The Mustangs regained the lead at 21–20 following a kill from
Logan Burge, before Zepfel added another kill to give Stevenson a 23–21 advantage. After Messiah tied the set at 24–24, Salazar delivered a kill and Messiah committed an attack error as Stevenson closed out the opening set, 26–24.
Set 2: Messiah opened the second set with a 5–1 advantage and continued to control the set throughout. Stevenson battled to stay within reach, using kills from Lenz and Zepfel to cut into the deficit.
The Mustangs pulled within 16–12 before Messiah responded with another run to extend its lead. Stevenson continued to battle late, but Messiah held on for a 25–19 victory to even the match at 1–1.
Set 3: Stevenson came out strong in the third set, jumping ahead 4–1 before extending its lead to 11–5. Zepfel and Lenz combined for four kills during the early stretch as the Mustangs maintained control.
Messiah rallied to pull within 12–11, but Stevenson answered with a 6–2 run to regain momentum. Lenz added three kills during the late stretch, while Stevenson received a key block from
Lillianna Hornickle and
Emma Shaffer to help build an 18–14 lead. The Mustangs continued to pull away and closed the set on a 5–0 run, capped by a Zepfel kill, to take the set 25–18 and regain the match lead.
Set 4: The fourth set featured 13 ties and three lead changes as neither team was able to pull away. Stevenson held an early 11–8 lead before Messiah rallied to tie the set at 13–13.
The Mustangs regained the advantage at 18–16 behind a Zepfel kill and continued to hold the lead until Messiah eventually tied the set at 24–24. Stevenson answered with a Salazar kill to take a 25–24 lead, while Hornickle helped give the Mustangs a 26–25 advantage following a Messiah error.
After Messiah tied the set again at 26–26, Lenz delivered a kill to put Stevenson within one point of victory.
Declyn Tooze then sealed the match with a service ace as Stevenson took the fourth set, 28–26.
Lenz led the Mustangs offensively with 14 kills, while Zepfel added 13 kills while hitting .400. Salazar contributed 12 kills with a .417 hitting percentage, while Hornickle finished with four kills on five attacks and added four block assists. Burge chipped in three kills and two blocks.
Tooze directed the Stevenson offense with 16 assists, while
Courtney Foose added 21 assists. Defensively,
Isabella Terra led the Mustangs with 10 digs, while Lenz added eight and
Lilly Eichelberger contributed 13 digs. Stevenson finished with 50 kills, a .258 hitting percentage, 46 digs, seven service aces, and eight total team blocks.
Stevenson returns to action on Saturday, October 10, hosting Salisbury and Susquehanna for the SU's Tri-Match. The Mustangs are scheduled to take the court at 11:30 a.m for its match against Salisbury.
