The Briar Cliff volleyball team fell in a five set road battle to Mount Marty Saturday in Yankton, South Dakota.
 
"Our loss to Mount Marty is par for the course in the GPAC right now," said head coach Lindsey Weatherford. "We know they are a good team, they were relentless both on offense and defense. Any given day any team can win!"
 
The Lancers swung a game high .256 in the opening set with 16 kills. Set one was tightly contested with the Chargers taking a 16-15 lead after two Mount Marty errors. The Lancers, however, would score 10 of the last 13 points to take the set.
 
The Chargers regrouped during the intermission and answered by swinging at a .205 clip in the second set, their highest of the match. The set saw the score tie nine times, but it was the Chargers who finished strong by scoring six of the last seven points. Kiersten Baker and Sami Wasmund each tallied a kill during the run, while Baker teamed up with Makynna Snow and Taryn Nothem for blocks. BC took the set 26-24 to even the match at 1-1.
 
"The biggest takeaway for us was how we played in set two," said Weatherford. "It has been hard for us to rebound and win set two on most nights but tonight we worked together to get that set win."
 
Mount Marty jumped out to a 9-3 lead in set three, and would hold the Cliff at bay on their way to a 25-18 set win.
 
Nothem tallied two early kills in the fourth set and following a Baker-Wasmund block, the Blue and Gold held a 10-6 lead. The Chargers used a 6-1 run in the middle of the set to take a seven-point lead. Nothem and Baker teamed up for a block to close out the fourth, 25-17.
 
The fifth set went back-and-forth, but it was the Lancers who would prevail, 15-13 after four straight points.  
 
"Taryn Nothem had a great match tonight, she had several digs and kills when we needed them most and was a block leader right out of the gate," said Weatherford. "I'm also pleased with how Filimaua Afatia contributed to the match off the bench today and also with the combination of Toria Andre, Sami Wasmund and Kiersten Baker at the net!"
 
Andre led the way with 11 kills and a .240 hitting percentage to go with four blocks. Wasmund added seven kills and eight blocks (two solo), while Nothem had seven kills, six blocks and five digs.
 
Olivia Corey and Yenne Schepers had 24 and 20 assists, respectively. Jaice Johnsen had a team high 20 digs.
 
The Chargers are back in action on Wednesday when they head to Sioux Center, Iowa for a 7:30 p.m. match against Dordt.