WASHINGTON - The Gallaudet University women's volleyball team rose to the occasion Thursday night as they rallied to defeat Lancaster Bible College in the fifth set to win 3-2 in a thrilling North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) South Division showdown. The win helped GU (16-15, 7-2 NEAC) secure the No. 2 spot in the NEAC South Division as the conference tournament begins next week.

Gallaudet dropped the first set 23-25 before it won the next two by the scores of 25-19 and 25-17. The Bison almost closed out Lancaster Bible (12-17, 6-3 NEAC) in the fourth set before the Chargers came back to win 27-25 to force the fifth and decisive set.

LBC jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the fifth set and later led 11-10 before Gallaudet scored five of the next seven points. Senior outside hitter Darriyan Thomas (Vallejo, Calif.) ended the match with her 25th kill on the night. She completed the double-double with 22 digs.

Senior middle hitter Giuletta Maucere (Valley Village, Calif.) was second on the team with 11 kills while sophomore Adele Daniels (Austin, Texas) passed out 48 assists and made 14 digs. Junior libero Raelyn Fuechtmann (South St. Paul, Minn.) led the team with 26 digs and five service aces.

Lancaster Bible was paced by Hannah Gipe's 15 kills while Allison Shuey passed out 46 assists and Myranda Kemrer made 46 digs in the loss.

BISON TRACKS

• Freshman Brynn Schmidt (Bozeman, Mont.) made seven kills and nine digs
• Sophomore Farrah Harmount (Union City, Calif.) tallied 13 digs
• Junior Shua Clay (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) led the defense with three blocks (one solo)
• Fuechtmann surpassed 1,200 digs in her career this evening
• GU is 3-3 in matches that go five sets this season

UP NEXT
Gallaudet will next await the official announcement from the NEAC office on who made the 2017 NEAC tournament field later this weekend. There are still a handful of conference games set to be played this Saturday that can impact the final standings. The Bison are in line to host Lancaster Bible College on Tuesday, Oct. 31, in the NEAC South Division first round. The time is to be announced.