WASHINGTON - The Gallaudet University women's volleyball team planned a "White Out" for its conference opener here Thursday evening in the Field House but the Bison and their fans, clad in white, couldn't stop Lancaster Bible College. The visiting Chargers were unfazed by the whiteout as they handed the Bison a shutout en route to a 25-22, 25-19, 25-15 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) win.

This is Lancaster Bible's first win in the Gallaudet Field House in six tries. The Chargers have won two consecutive times against the Bison after GU won the first 10 meetings dating back to 2011.

For the first time in Gallaudet coach Lynn Ray Boren's 15-year history the Bison dropped their conference opener.

GU (1-12, 0-1 NEAC) was paced upfront by junior Karita Lewis (Frederick, Md.) with seven kills and six digs while fellow junior Elina Rubinshteyn (Austin, Texas) added six kills. Freshman Demi Bingham (Jefferson, Md.) passed out 19 assists and five digs while sophomore Mia Upchurch (Austin, Texas) made a team best 10 digs and two service aces.

Lancaster Bible (5-7, 1-0 NEAC) was led by Aleah Heyworth (nine kills, four blocks, two aces) and Courtney Goyak (seven kills) while Allison Shuey (two aces) made 29 assists. The Chargers had 10 aces and 33 kills in the match.

Prior to the start of the match, Gallaudet was recognized for earning its 11th American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award as the Bison posted a team grade point average above 3.30 during the 2018-19 school year.

BISON TRACKS

• Freshman Sunita Schmidjorg (Austin, Texas) had a team best three aces
• Freshman Cassidy Perry (Frederick, Md.) made two block solos
• The Bison served up six aces
• GU leads the LBC series, 10-2

UP NEXT
GU will head to Harrisburg, Pa., on Sunday, Sept. 22, to take on Penn St.-Harrisburg (7-3, 1-0 NEAC) and Eastern Mennonite University (7-3) at 11 am and 1 pm, respectively. The Penn St.-Harrisburg match will be a conference game as the Lions returned to the NEAC this season. GU and Penn St.-Harrisburg last met in conference play in 2012 as the Bison went 4-0 against the Lions from 2010-12. The two teams met two years ago in the Battlefield Classic to begin the 2017 season as the Lions won 3-2.