EXPRESS HANG TOUGH IN LOSS TO CHARGERS

AURORA, N.Y. – The Express fell in three straight sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-13)  to the Lancaster Bible College Chargers in their second match of the afternoon Saturday in Aurora. The loss drops the Express to 0-8 while the Chargers improve to 6-8.

Caleb Mannix (Chittenango, N.Y.) led the team in kills with 11 while Andrew Jacobs (Millburn, N.J.) added six kills. Jessilyn Aki (Kapaa, Hawaii) led the team in digs with six and Paul Hernon (New Hartford, N.Y.) rounded out the highlights finishing the day with four kills for the Express.

Joey Brennan led the Chargers with eight kills while Alex Bahn chipped in with seven kills and six digs.

The Express battled the Chargers tough in the first two sets. Trailing 10-7 in set one, the Express scored four straight points to take a slim 11-10 lead. The Chargers rallied back with three straight points to take a 15-13 lead and would extend their lead to set point 24-17. Despite the deficit, the Express stayed strong scoring three straight points before a Chargers kill ended the rally and the set 25-20.

The two teams continued to play neck-and-neck in the second set. Wells again held a slim lead at 13-11 and the Chargers again battled back, this time rallying for a 9-3 run to take a 20-16 lead before holding on for the 25-20 set victory.

The third set belonged to the Chargers as Lancaster raced out to a 16-7 lead and never looked back en route to the 25-13 set victory.

"With such a great crowd I'm thrilled the guys were able to come out and play some of our best volleyball for them.  They attacked with more confidence, served and passed much more consistently, and the blocking was really solid, said head coach Richard Gary. 

"There's nobody out there, including everyone on the bench and our great assistants, who didn't contribute to the effort today, and after a really great week of training, with every player working really hard, it was nice to see the reward in our competitiveness today. "

The Express return to action on Friday, March 9 when they travel to New York City for the York College Classic where they'll take on Gallaudet University and Medgar Evers College at 6:30 and 8:30 respectively.