West Chester Swept In NCAA Tournament

WHEELING, W.Va. – West Chester University started off strong in its NCAA Tournament first round match against Indiana (Pa.) Thursday evening, but could not find its footing midway through the opening set in a 3-0 loss at McDonough Arena on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University.
 
West Chester (24-9) looked good jumping out to a 15-9 advantage in the opening set. However, IUP (25-9) went on a 7-1 run to even the score at 16-all, before the Golden Rams called timeout to try to halt the Crimson Hawks' momentum. After that, a back-and-forth battle ensued until the Hawks gained the advantage late and pulled out a 25-23 win. IUP then rode that high to a pair of wins in the next two sets, 25-11 and 25-12.
 
West Chester suffered through a poor day of hitting, committing 23 errors and finishing with just a .056 percentage while IUP hit .296.
 
Abby Dischert (Wilmington, Del./Concord) led the Golden Rams with eight kills while Karleigh Lutz (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) posted six kills. Lutz eclipsed 1,000 kills in her college career, finishing her time in the Purple & Gold with 1,002 kills to her credit.
 
Victoria Cruciani (Phoenixville, Pa./Pope John Paul II) registered six kills and four blocks while Jillian Grammer (Centre Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh) had 23 assists while Nicki Yates, who eclipsed 2,000 career digs in West Chester's PSAC Tournament semifinal, led the Golden Rams with 15 more on Thursday.
 
It was West Chester's second appearance in the NCAA Tournament and third tournament match. The Golden Rams are 1-2 overall, after beating Pitt-Johnstown in 2015 before falling to Gannon in the second round of the Atlantic Regional. Those two games were also held at Wheeling Jesuit University.