SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.- Following a hard-fought loss on the road at Shepherd on Friday evening, the West Chester women's volleyball team returned to the action on Saturday afternoon on the road at Shippensburg. West Chester battled throughout the match, but it was Shippensburg who emerged victorious winning the match by a final of 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-20) over the Golden Rams.
In the first set, West Chester raced out to an early 3-0 lead and traded close leads with Shippensburg for much of the early going of the match as the Golden Rams led 10-8 approaching the midway point of the set. After trading points, West Chester again held a slim lead, as the Golden Rams led 22-21 late in the opening set before Shippensburg closed on a 4-0 run to earn the 25-22 opening set victory.
Similarly, to the first set, West Chester got out to an early lead once again, pulling ahead 5-3 and leading for much of the set, including a 23-22 lead late in the set. Shippensburg answered with another short run (4-1) to complete its second-set comeback (26-24) and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, Shippensburg jumped out to the early lead, taking a 10-5 lead early in the action, which forced a quick West Chester timeout. Following the timeout, West Chester went on a 3-0 run to close the deficit to just two points (10-8) before Shippensburg answered with a 5-0 run of its own to take a 15-8 lead, and force West Chester to take its second timeout. As it had throughout much of the afternoon, West Chester battled back, making the score 17-18 in favor of the host Raiders late in the set but Shippensburg was able to close the match on a 7-3 run to earn the 25-20 third set victory and 3-0 match win.
Julia Vreeswyk (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) posted a team-high eight kills while teammate
Olivia Rudjord (Fogelsville, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) logged a team-best five blocks and four kills of her own in the setback.
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) led the way in assists with 25 and nearly registered a double-double as she also logged eight assists. Defensively,
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) led the Golden Rams in digs once again, posting a team-high 14 in the setback.
West Chester will be back in action on Tuesday evening on the road at Felician with that contest set to begin at 7 p.m.
