WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The West Chester University volleyball team wrapped up the 2018 season on Saturday evening by sweeping Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) representative Virginia State University 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-11) inside the Hollinger Field House. The win marked the third in a row for the Golden Rams after defeating Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opponent East Stroudsburg (3-2) last night before downing both Kutztown (3-2) and Virginia State (3-0) in Saturday's tri-match.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Golden Rams (21-10) proved much too efficient for the Trojans (20-12) on Saturday, as the home team committed just seven errors overall and hit above .400 in every set.
- WCU went on to handily defeat VSU in every set in the match to give the Golden Rams their 10th sweep of the season and first since September.
BY THE NUMBERS
- West Chester's .450 (43-7-80) hitting percentage against the Trojans was the highest clip for the Golden Rams this season, and the number is the best for WCU in a match since the Golden Rams hit .500 as a team against Cheyney in October 2017.
- The Golden Rams only committed seven errors in Saturday's match, which is tied for the fewest by the squad this season, while WCU's 15 service aces against VSU tied the team's best output of the year that was set earlier today against Kutztown.
- Virginia State's 24 digs on Saturday were the second fewest by a West Chester opponent this season – trailing only Dominican College's 17 scoops during the Marauders Clash in September.
- Senior Allie Duffy (CARLISLE, PA./CARLISLE) ended her career with the Golden Rams by leading the squad with eight kills on Saturday evening. Appearing in 134 matches across her career, Duffy leaves West Chester sitting atop the all-time career hitting percentage (.325) list and her .383 clip during her senior season goes down as the best single-season mark in program history. Coming out of Carlisle, Duffy will also leave WCU sitting seventh on West Chester's all-time career blocks after swatting 314 total across her career.
- Senior setter Jillian Grammer (CENTER VALLEY, PA./SOUTHERN LEHIGH) paced all players with 21 assists on Saturday night to bring her final tally to a WCU record 4,651 helpers throughout her career. Grammer ends her time with the Purple and Gold also holding the school record in assists/set (10.2), while her 1,236 career digs will go down as the ninth most in program history.
- In her final match as a Golden Ram, graduate student Nicki Yates (COOPERSBURG, PA./SOUTHERN LEHIGH) handed out a match-high 14 digs to mark the 30th time this season that the libero had scooped at least 10 digs in a contest. Entering 2018 already with the career digs record, Yates' 2,623 career digs put the Coopersburg native on top of the WCU record book by nearly 700 scoops overall. Her 5.38 digs/set average is also the best in West Chester history and her 607 digs in 2018 stand as the fifth best ever by a Golden Ram – Yates now holds four of the top five spots on the single-season digs list.
THAT'S A WRAP
- West Chester ends the 2018 season with a 21-10 overall record behind a 9-9 mark in the PSAC. Despite winning their first 14 straight matches, the Golden Rams failed to qualify for the postseason for just the second time under Head Coach Kassie Bellaver and first time since 2013.
