To set the school record for consecutive wins and reach 20 wins faster than all but one team in College athletic history, the Muhlenberg volleyball team has needed to pull out some matches in which not everything was going its way.

That was certainly the case at Washington College.

Playing shorthanded, the Mules dropped the first set and were pushed to a fifth set in which they were challenged repeatedly. But they prevailed in the fifth, 18-16.

The win extended Muhlenberg’s streak to a school-record 12 matches. The Mules (20-2, 6-0) pushed it to 13 with a 3-0 sweep of Lancaster Bible later in the day. Only the 1945 men’s basketball team, in its 21st game, got to 20 wins faster.

“We’re taking it one step at a time,” said junior Katherine Boll, who tied a career high with 22 kills and hit .629 against Washington. “We’re proud to get that accomplishment, but we’re looking at the big picture.”

The big picture is that Muhlenberg remained tied with Swarthmore, a winner in four sets against McDaniel, for first place in the Centennial Conference. Three of the Mules’ six CC wins have come in five sets. Idle Haverford also is undefeated (5-0) and visits Muhlenberg on Thursday.

To stay undefeated in the CC, the Mules had to overcome a sloppy first set, which the Shorewomen won, 25-18. Muhlenberg regrouped to win the second and third sets, 25-15 and 25-23, but Washington took the fourth, 25-20.

In the fifth set, the Mules jumped out to an 8-2 lead but could not shake the Shorewomen, who came back to move ahead, 10-9. The teams were tied or within a point of each other the rest of the match until the final point.

“They were doing a good job digging balls, but we did a good job of continuing to swing as hard as we could,” said Boll “Our passers were on, especially during the last few points.”

The primary passer, senior setter Nikki Dickson, turned attacker to give Muhlenberg a 17-16 lead with a kill off a second-ball hit. Junior Joanne Josephson finally ended the thriller with a kill, her 12th of the match, on the next point.

Dickson (right) recorded a career-high 52 assists, while Boll had nine blocks and seven digs to go along with her 22 kills. Sophomore Allison Glass (leftt) added 14 kills and 15 digs. Junior Chelsea Kaser and sophomore Elizabeth Garrison led the defense with 25 and 16 digs, respectively.

Boll led all players with 16 kills in the Lancaster Bible match, while Dickson contributed 31 assists and five aces.

The Chargers (13-9) threatened to extend the Mules’ stay on the Maryland eastern shore by coming from behind to take a 21-18 lead in the third set, but Muhlenberg ended on a 7-2 run to complete the sweep and return home with its record streak intact.

“Good things are hapepning,” said Boll. “We are working hard every day and it’s nice that we’re getting rewarded.”

Click here for box scores.
Click for complete stats: Washington | Lancaster Bible