WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester women's volleyball team returned to action on Friday evening to host PSAC East rival Lock Haven. West Chester rolled to a 3-0 victory (25-14, 25-12, 25-19) over its guests to improve to 18-5 on the year and 7-2 in league action.
In the first set, West Chester and Lock Haven traded points early but West Chester was able to get on a short run to take a 14-5 lead and force a Lock Haven timeout early in the first set. Out of the timeout, Lock Haven attempted to mount a comeback but West Chester's early first-set lead was sufficient as the Golden Rams earned a 25-14 first set victory.
In the second set, West Chester raced out to an early 8-2 lead, which forced a quick Lock Haven timeout. Out of the timeout, Lock Haven kept the match within six points before West Chester began to pull away, extending its lead to 18-9 midway through the set. West Chester cruised from this point to take the second set by a final of 25-12, with a block by
Grace Whitney (Glenside, Pa./Abington) to close out the set.
West Chester started off the third set quickly as the Golden Rams jumped out to a 9-4 lead before Lock Haven rallied to make the score 11-9. West Chester countered with a 3-0 run to extend its lead back to 14-9 but Lock Haven answered with a quick two points to make the score 14-11 and force West Chester to take its first timeout of the evening. The timeout had its desired impact as it halted the Lock Haven and momentum and allowed West Chester to go on another 3-0 run to extend its lead to 17-11. Leading 20-13 late in the third set, Lock Haven showed it was not finished yet as the Bald Eagles went on a 4-0 run to make the score 20-17.
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) halted the Lock Haven run with a kill to make the score 21-17, which allowed West Chester to go on a short run and close out the fourth set with a 25-19 third set victory and a 3-0 match victory.
Byrne contributed in her usual way with a team-best 24 assists while
Maria Harding (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) led in kills with eight kills in the victory while
Julia Vreeswyk (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) finished with seven kills to rank second on the team in kills.
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) led the way in digs with a team-best 12 digs in the victory.
As a team, West Chester hit .275 as a team while holding Lock Haven to a -.042 hitting percentage.
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday afternoon in a tri-match featuring PSAC East foe Bloomsburg and non-conference foe D'youville with those matches set to begin at 12 p.m.
