LINCOLN, Pa.- Following a pair of important PSAC victories over the weekend at Lock Haven and Bloomsburg, the West Chester women's volleyball team returned to action on Tuesday on the road at non-conference foe Lincoln. West Chester rolled to its ninth victory in as many attempts over Lincoln winning the match by a final of 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-18) to improve to 12-3 on the year.
In the first set, Lincoln and West Chester traded points early as the match was tied at 5-5 through the first 10 points of the contest. West Chester countered quickly with a 7-0 run to take a commanding 12-5 lead before eventually extending its lead to 16-10 near the midway point of the set. From this point, West Chester worked quickly to close out the first set victory, ending on a 9-1 run to claim the 25-11 set win and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set began in a manner similar to the opening set as the host Lions jumped out to an early 7-5 lead before West Chester answered back with a 7-0 run to take a 12-7 lead early in the set. West Chester and Lincoln traded the next 12 points as West Chester held on to its lead with the score at 18-13 late in the second set. The Golden Rams closed out the set with a 7-2 run to earn the 25-15 second set victory and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
During the third set, Lincoln jumped out to an early lead once again, as the Lions took an early 8-4 lead before West Chester countered with a quick run of its own, punctuated by back-to-back aces from
Olivia Rudjord (Fogelsville, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) to take a 9-8 lead early in the set. Following a Lincoln timeout, the host Lions countered with a 4-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead, making the score 12-9 in favor of Lincoln.
Maria Harding (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) answered with a kill, which halted the Lincoln run and sparked a West Chester run as the Golden Rams got on a 6-2 run to reclaim the lead, making the score 15-14 midway through the set, thus, prompting another Lincoln timeout. Out of the timeout, West Chester extended its lead to 20-17 as the Golden Rams looked to put away the Lions late in the set. West Chester would do just this as the Golden Rams captured five of the next six points to earn the 25-18 set victory and win the match by a 3-0 final.
Reigning PSAC East Athlete of the Week
Julia Vreeswyk (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) ended her night with a team-best 10 kills while teammate and the week previous Athlete of the Week Rudjord ended with nine kills and a team-best six aces along with two blocks to help lead the Golden Rams to victory.
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) ended her night with the lead in assists with 17 while
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) tied with
Paige Monastero (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) for the team lead in digs with six each.
As a team, West Chester hit .246 thanks in large part to a .400 hitting performance by Rudjord while holding the Lions to a -.033 hitting performance en route to the three-set victory.
West Chester will be back in action in PSAC play this weekend beginning with a match at Shepherd on Friday night before visiting Shippensburg on Saturday afternoon.
