LANCASTER, Pa. – The Cedar Crest College volleyball team was defeated by Lancaster Bible College in a 3-0 final in a United East Conference match on Tuesday night at the Horst Athletic Center.

The Chargers won the match by set scores of 25-18, 25-19, and 25-11.

Lancaster Bible got out to an 8-5 lead in the first set and following a point by the Falcons, the Chargers rattled off an 8-2 run to double up Cedar Crest, 16-8. The visitors registered two consecutive points to cut the margin to six and then three straight points by Lancaster Bible pushed the margin back up to nine, 19-10. Cedar Crest slowly chipped away at the deficit, going on an 8-4 run, finished off by a kill from junior Ellise Everett (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona) to make the score 23-18. The home team then answered with two straight points to win the set, 25-18.

The teams split the first eight points of the second set (4-4). The Chargers pulled in front with two consecutive points, which was then answered with a 4-0 run, capped off by a block from senior Akashia Johnson (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) and sophomore Tianlly Davila (Frederick, Md./Governor Thomas Johnson) to make the score 8-6 in favor of the Falcons. Cedar Crest later extended its margin to four, 14-10, after a 5-2 spurt. Lancaster Bible responded with a 10-2 run to snag a 20-16 advantage. The Falcons later trimmed the lead to two, 21-19, following a kill from graduate student Ziah Melton (Allentown, Pa./William Allen), but the Chargers concluded the frame on a 4-0 run to capture the stanza, 25-19.

Lancaster Bible raced out to a 9-1 lead in the third set. The Chargers extended its margin to as many as 14, 24-10, before taking the set by a 25-11 score and the match in straight sets.

Everett paced Cedar Crest with seven kills, one assist, one service ace, five blocks, and three digs. Melton followed with six kills, two blocks, and 10 digs. Johnson had five kills and two blocks. Davila handed out a team-high 15 assists to go along with one kill, two service aces, one block and eight digs. Graduate student Rebekka Sanchez-Castro (Columbia, Md./Atholton) tallied a team-high 11 digs to guide the Falcon defense.

Sophomore Lea Sareyka (Glen Mills, Pa.) recorded a match-high 15 kills in addition to one service ace, one block, and two digs to lead Lancaster Bible.

Cedar Crest (7-13, 2-3 United East) returns to action on Saturday, October 19 as the Falcons host Wilson College on Homecoming Weekend at 1:00 p.m. It will also mark Senior Day for the program. Lancaster Bible (17-4 overall, 4-0 United East) will next play at Rosemont College on Saturday at noon.