ERIE, Pa. – The West Chester University volleyball team survived a tough road test on Friday night, as the Golden Rams defeated Mercyhurst University 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 29-31, 15-12) inside the Mercyhurst Athletic Center to remain unbeaten on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Golden Rams (14-0, 3-0 PSAC) held on to take the opener 25-23, but despite amassing a 13-12 kills advantage over Mercyhurst in the second frame, the visitors were unable to combat a -5 errors margin (9-4) and fell 25-21 in the second stanza.
- The home team raced out to an 8-2 advantage to start the second set and eventually built a 19-13 cushion late in frame. With Jillian Grammer (CENTER VALLEY, PA./SOUTHERN LEHIGH) at the serve, the Golden Rams managed to rattle off a 7-1 run to square the set at 20-20. This back-and-forth battle would tie four times down the stretch, until two-straight Lakers' errors would hand the Golden Rams the 26-24 victory to go up 2-1 in the match.
- The fourth frame was a battle of attrition, as Mercyhurst was able to stave off defeat by grabbing the 31-29 victory in an absolute marathon of a set.
- WCU started off the deciding set up 4-1 and never relinquished that advantage for the remainder of the frame to claim the 15-12 match-deciding victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Right side hitter Rachel Robb (BLACKWOOD, N.J./PAUL VI) paced the Golden Rams with a career-high 18 kills against Mercyhurst. Robb's 18 kills on Friday are the second double-digit kill performance for the junior this season and the number is the most by any WCU player so far this year.
- Freshman Julia Vreeswyk (YARDLEY, PA/PENNSBURY) (14) and sophomore Brianna Fisher (WALLINGFORD, PA./STRATH HAVEN) (11) both notched double-digit kills in the win, with Fisher's 11 kills representing a new career high for the outside hitter.
- Grammer finished the five-set affair with 47 assists and a season-high 17 digs to give the setter her seventh double-double this season.
- Graduate student Nicki Yates (COOPERSBURG, PA./SOUTHERN LEHIGH) once again led the squad with 19 digs in Friday's win, while freshman Rachel Hutchinson (PALMYRA, PA/PALMYRA) chipped in a season-best 10 digs for the Golden Rams.
- WCU's marathon fourth set against the Lakers stands as the highest-scoring set (29) by the Golden Rams since West Chester dropped 30 points in a third set of a home victory over Kutztown in 2015.
- West Chester's 14-0 start to the 2018 campaign is the best for the Golden Rams since the squad started the 2007 season by winning its first 15 straight contests.
UP NEXT
- WCU will stay in Erie to square off against Gannon University tomorrow, September 22, at 2:00 p.m. inside the Hammermill Center. Saturday's matchup will be a rematch of last year's PSAC Semifinals – a contest that the Golden Knights took in straight sets before eventually falling to Pitt-Johnstown 3-2 in the championship match.
