Lancaster, PA - Cairn Women's Volleyball comes up short in both legs of Lancaster Bible Tri-match.
Cairn vs. LBC:
Cairn (13-8 / 5-3 United East) and Lancaster Bible started their match by trading blows until they reach a 7-7 tie. From here sophomore outside hitter
Marah Lehman (Chambersburg, PA / Chambersburg) fueled a 4-0 run with a kill and a pair of aces. The Chargers responded with 3 straight before Cairn pushed the lead back to 16-11 behind back-to-back aces by
Bella Manthe (Manila, Philippines / Faith Academy). Lancaster Bible came all the way back and took the lead 23-21. Junior middle blocker
Maddie Shackelford (Warrington, PA / Plumstead Christian School) stepped up and used 2 kills to help propel the Cairn offense to 4 straight points to claim the set.
The second set saw LBC go out in front 6-2 before the Highlanders won 6 out of the next 7 points to take the lead 8-7. The Chargers controlled the second half of the set and Cairn dropped the frame 25-16.
Cairn started the 3rd set by going up 8-3. LBC shrank the lead down to 12-10 before Lehman recorded 4 kills in a 5 point stretch to put the Highlanders out in front 16-11. Another 2 late kills by Lehman were not enough to overcome a late surge by the Chargers and Cairn fell short in the 3rd set 25-21.
In the 4th se Cairn struggled to find their footing, Shackelford recorded a a pair of kills in the set but the Highlanders came up short and dropped he match 3-1.
Cairn vs. Hood:
Cairn got off to a great start against Hood (3-18 / 2-4), with 3 aces by Shackelford helping the Highlanders go up 7-0. The Blazers battled back in the middle part of the set, cutting the lead to 4 at 12-8. 4 consecutive aces by Manthe put Cairn back in the drives seat at 17-8. Manthe, Lehman and Shackelford each recorded a late kill to give Cairn a 1-0 advantage.
Set number 2 saw another strong start for Cairn with an ace by
Liliana Magazzu (Reading, PA / Exeter Township) capping off a 12-5 start to the set. Cairn stayed in control for the rest of the set and seniors
Bridget Dahn (Smithsburg, MD / Heritage Academy) and
Georgianna Thorpe (Southampton, PA / William Tennent) recorded back-to-back kills to close out the set.
Another 2 early aces by Shackelford helped Cairn build a 4-1 lead out of the gate in the 3rd set. The Blazers came storming back and strong play at the tail-end if the set cut into the Cairn lead 2-1.
The 4th set saw Hood keep their strong play going, starting out up 10-4. Cairn rattled off 5 straight points including another 4 consecutive aces by Manthe. More strong play by Cairn including 3 aces by Shackelford put Cairn up 17-13. Cairn lost their momentum after that streak and couldn't regain it, with Hood winning 12 of the final 14 points to tie the match at 2.
The 5th set saw the 2 teams go back and forth, trading the lead. 2 late kills by Lehman put Cairn up 17-16, but the Highlanders were unable to close the set and fell short 2-3.
