SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Coming off a huge 3-2 victory over divisional foe Millersville at home on Tuesday, the West Chester University volleyball team kicked off its two match road trip on Friday night by suffering a 3-0 (22-25, 23-25, 16-25) sweep at the hands of Shippensburg University inside the Heiges Field House.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- With the score square at 3-3, the home team strung together six-answered points to go up 9-3 in the opening frame. The Golden Rams (16-3, 5-3 PSAC) quickly answered back with six straight of their own – fueled by three aces from junior Rachel Robb (BLACKWOOD, N.J./PAUL VI) – to knot the opener at 10-10. The rest of the first set was a back-and-forth affair and with SHIP holding the slim 24-22 advantage, a WCU error would hand the home team the first set, 25-22.
- The Golden Rams found themselves up 21-18 late in the second stanza, but the Raiders responded with another 6-0 spurt to jump in front, 24-21. A SHIP error and a kill from Robb brought WCU within two (24-23) but the Raiders would secure set No. 2 following a kill by Morgan DeFloria.
- Down 12-7 in the third frame, the visitors went on to score six of the next seven points of the set to hack the Shippensburg advantage to a single point (14-13). Aware, but not shook, the Raiders ended the third stanza on a 9-3 run to to give Shippensburg their 17th victory of the season.
BY THE NUMBERS
- West Chester struggled on the offensive side of the ball against the Raiders, logging season lows in both kills (35) and hitting percentage (.045), while its 32 total assists were the second fewest for the Golden Rams through the first 19 games of the season.
- Senior Allie Duffy (CARLISLE, PA./CARLISLE) paced the Golden Rams with eight kills on Friday night and the freshman duo of Grace Whitney (GLENSIDE, PA/ABINGTON) and Julia Vreeswyk (YARDLEY, PA/PENNSBURY) chipped in six kills each in the loss.
- After handing out 59 dimes last weekend against Millersville, senior Jillian Grammer (CENTER VALLEY, PA./SOUTHERN LEHIGH) tied Shippensburg's Emily Hangen with 25 assists on Friday night. Grammer also logged eight digs against the Raiders, marking the first time in the last nine matches that the setter failed to record a double-double in a match.
- Graduate student Nicki Yates (COOPERSBURG, PA./SOUTHERN LEHIGH) paced the WCU defense with 18 digs on the evening, to keep her streak of at least 10-plus digs in every match this year alive.
- Entering the match with zero aces on the year, Robb tallied three SA's against the Raiders, while Whitney totaled four blocks and scooped a season-high six digs on Friday night.
UP NEXT
- The Golden Rams continue their road trip tomorrow, October 6, when they travel to Johnstown to square off against defending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Champion Pitt-Johnstown at 1:00 p.m.
