BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Drew University women's volleyball team built a 2-0 lead, then rallied from an 11-6 deficit in the fifth set to pull out an epic 3-2 Landmark Conference victory at Moravian University Friday evening.
 
The Rangers won the opening sets 25-19 and 25-16 before the Greyhounds came back to win 25-14 and 25-22. Drew closed out the match with a 17-15 fifth-set win in which they faced match point.
 
Sophomore Teeya Desgoutte turned in a huge performance for Drew, which evened its Landmark Conference record at 3-3 and set a team record for most conference victories in a season. She fired up a career-high 27 kills, including the team's final six kills in the decisive fifth set. Her 27 kills also places her in a tie for third-most in team history, and she made just six errors on 72 attempts for a .292 hitting percentage. For good measure, she added 12 digs and a career-high five service aces.
 
Sophomore Abigail Pereira added nine kills for the Rangers while freshman Alyssa Rachwal – playing in her hometown – handed out 44 assists. Junior Lauren Gaza registered 27 digs while classmate Kiara Vasquez totaled 21 digs and a career-high five aces.
 
Payton Reuber led the Greyhounds with 14 kills.
 
The Rangers never trailed in the opening set after jumping out to a 9-3 lead. Moravian came back to tie it at 10-10 but Drew pulled away with a 5-0 spurt.
 
Drew trailed just once – at 1-0 – in the second set and outscored the Greyhounds 10-4 to start the period. After Moravian pulled to within two, the Rangers used a 6-0 run to open up some breathing room at 16-8.
 
The 'Hounds led for nearly the entire third set after jumping out to a 10-4 lead. In the fourth set, the Rangers were five points from victory after leading 20-17, but Moravian rallied with an 8-2 run to force a deciding fifth set.
 
Moravian scored the first two points of the final period, then used a 4-0 surge to open up its aforementioned 11-6 lead. Junior Alyssa Baron stemmed the rally with a kill, but the hosts would push their lead to 13-9. However, that's when sophomore Emily Shirk threw down a kill before Desgoutte took over with her six consecutive kills, with the first two slicing the deficit to 13-12.
 
The Rangers faced match point after a Moravian kill, but Desgoutte struck again, this time with three straight terminations that had Drew serving for match point at 15-14. The Greyhounds were able to stay alive with a kill, but Desgoutte fired up her final kill before a Moravian attack error ended the match.
 
Drew continues its season on Saturday with a pair of matches at Wilkes University. The Rangers take on Wilkes at 11 a.m. in a Landmark Conference tilt before facing John Jay College at 1 p.m. in a non-conference affair.