WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – After dropping two of the first three sets, the Lycoming College volleyball team dialed up an impressive performance in the final two sets, nailing down 26 kills to lift itself to a 3-2 (25-14, 23-25, 26-28, 25-17, 15-11) come-from-behind win in a key Commonwealth Conference match against Alvernia on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at Lamade Gym.
 
The Warriors (14-12 overall, 3-2 Commonwealth) picked up a critical conference win to stay a half-game ahead of Widener for fourth place in the nine-team league with three conference matches remaining. The Warriors now have a magic number of three to clinch their fourth straight Commonwealth Conference Tournament berth.
 
Freshman Catherine Burger (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) led the Warriors with a rally-point scoring era record 65 assists to go with 10 digs and three kills, as she was one of three on the team to post a double-double. Her 65 assists are third in school history behind only a pair of performances from Maran Attanasio in 1999.
 
Sophomore Lauren Fink (York, Pa./West York) finished with 15 kills and a team-high 19 digs and sophomore Maggie Slawson (Armagh, Pa./United) added 14 kills and 15 digs.
 
Sophomore Kristine Jahn (Enola, Pa./Cumberland Valley) also had a monster game, posting a career-high 22 kills to go with a .447 hitting percentage and six digs. Junior Bethany Richardson (York, Pa./West York) also notched 12 kills and three aces to go with a .375 hitting percentage.
 
Lycoming posted 77 kills while holding Alvernia (6-9 overall, 1-4 Commonwealth) to just 48, but the Crusaders were scrappy, forcing 29 Warrior attack errors and staying in sets when challenged by the Warriors, surviving a 14-7 Warrior run that tied the set at 21 in the second set before holding on for a 25-23 win and then coming back from down four in the third set to tie the set at 21 before forcing five set points before converting on the fifth to take the lead, 28-26.
 
The Warriors, however, responded in the fourth set by hitting .361 (17-4-36), led by four kills each from Richardson and Slawson. The Warriors built a 9-2 lead and never led the Crusaders back within five points en route to the 25-17 win. In the fifth set, the Crusaders took a 4-1 lead, but kills by Jahn and sophomore Tayler Whitman (New Cumberland, Pa./Cedar Cliff) turned the set around, as Lycoming went on a seven-point run to take an 8-4 lead. Alvernia tied the set at eight and 10, but another kill by Whitman put Lycoming in control for a set-ending 5-1 run.
 
Whitman finished with 11 kills, six digs and three blocks and senior Kristin Whitehead (Avon, Ohio/Avon) posted 10 digs and two aces.
 
Alvernia was led by 13 kills and five digs from Liz Newman while Kriten Sipling added 11 kills and 11 digs. Jamie Morris posted 34 assists and nine digs. Teresa Zavala notched a match-high 21 digs and posted two aces. McKenna Achenbach posted a match-high four blocks.
 
The Warriors get back on the court with another important Commonwealth Conference tri-match at Hood on Saturday, Oct. 18, as they face first-place Stevenson at 1 p.m. before playing host Hood at 3 p.m.