WEST CHESTER, Pa.-Entering the final weekend of the regular season, the West Chester women's volleyball team (21-7, 9-4 PSAC) returned home on Friday evening to host league foe Shepherd (22-3, 11-2 PSAC) in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference matchup with major playoff implications. West Chester battled throughout the match and took Shepherd to a fifth set, but it was the visiting Rams who escaped Hollinger Field House with a narrow 3-2 victory (19-25, 25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 15-8).
West Chester opened the first set with an impressive 6-0 run, which included a pair of aces by the PSAC's ace-leader
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) before Shepherd halted the run with a pair of points of its own to make the score 6-2 early in the set. From this point, West Chester and Shepherd began trading points as the Rams cut the West Chester lead down to two making the score 14-12 midway through the set, which prompted a Golden Ram timeout. Out of the timeout, Shepherd cut the West Chester lead down to just one making the score 14-13 before West Chester went on another short run to take an 18-14 lead. West Chester and Shepherd traded points over the balance of the first set as the Golden Rams emerged with a 25-19 first set victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Heffner ended the opening set with three aces while
Sarah Polacek (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop) logged four kills to lead West Chester to the first set triumph.
In the second set, West Chester and Shepherd traded points early but it was a mid-set run by the Rams, which gave Shepherd a 10-6 lead and prompted a quick West Chester timeout. Following the timeout, West Chester was able to cut into the Shepherd lead briefly, making the score 12-9 before another 3-0 Shepherd run extended the lead to back to six, making the score 15-9 in favor of the Rams, which led to West Chester taking it second timeout of the set. West Chester continued to work to battle its way back into the set but Shepherd was able to use its early advantage to hold for a 25-17 second set victory to even the match at 1-1.
In the third set, Shepherd jumped out to an early 6-4 lead but a 6-3 run by West Chester gave the Golden Rams a 10-7 lead early in the third set. Shepherd closed back within two before West Chester went on a brief 3-0 run, capped off by back-to-back kills by
Julia Vreeswyk (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) to take a 13-8 lead. Shepherd countered with a 3-0 run of its own to pull back within two (13-11), which prompted a quick timeout by West Chester. Out of the timeout, Shepherd continued its comeback as the Rams evened the score at 13-13 before retaking the lead and making the score 15-13, thus, prompting West Chester's second timeout of the set.
Grace Whitney (Glenside, Pa./Abington) eventually countered with a kill to halt the Shepherd run, but by this point the Rams had built their lead up to 18-14 entering the late stages of the set. Trailing by four late in the set, West Chester attempted to go on a set-altering run of its own but Shepherd was able to withstand the late rally to earn the 25-20 third-set victory and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set opened with a series of runs by both sides as neither side was able to get much separation early on as the set was tied at 9-9 in the early stages of the set. From this point, West Chester went on a 5-0 run to take a 14-9 lead and force a timeout by Shepherd. The timeout had its desired impact, at least briefly, as it halted the West Chester run, making the score 14-10. West Chester quickly got the serve back with Vreeswyk's 12
th kill of the match to make the score 15-10 in favor of the Golden Rams. West Chester used this kill to go on a 4-1 run, which saw the Purple and Gold stretch the lead to 18-11 and force Shepherd to use its second timeout of the set. Following this timeout, Shepherd got a pair of quick points back before the Golden Rams countered with two more points of their own to take a 20-13 lead late in the set. West Chester extended its lead to 22-14 before Shepherd began to mount a comeback, cutting the deficit down to 22-17, which prompted a West Chester timeout. The timeout had its desired impact as West Chester answered with a quick kill by
Maria Harding (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) to halt the run and make the score 23-17 in favor of West Chester.
Paige Monastero (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Caroll) closed out the fourth set victory with an ace to lift West Chester to a 25-20 victory and force a decisive fifth set.
Shepherd opened the short, 15-point fifth set with a quick 3-0 run, which prompted an early timeout by West Chester as head coach
Kassie Bellaver looked to settle the team down early in the set. West Chester halted the Shepherd run shortly after this timeout, cutting the deficit down to 4-2 but Shepherd responded with two quick points to take a 6-2 lead and force West Chester to take its second timeout of the decisive fifth set. This timeout sparked another 2-0 run by the Golden Rams, but Shepherd had an answer once again, as the Rams were able to get out to an 9-4 lead at the midway point of the set.
Polacek and Vreeswyk each ended the night in double figures for kills with 18 and 15, respectively in the hard fought loss.
Heffner, who entered play as the PSAC leader in aces, was impressive once again, registering three aces while also posting nine digs .
Ali Miller (Enola, Pa./Cumberland Valley) led the team in digs with 19 while
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) posted nine digs and 48 assists in the setback.
West Chester will be back in action at home tomorrow afternoon as it concludes its regular season with a senior day battle against PSAC rival Shippensburg with that contest set to begin at 1 p.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive early as the Golden Rams will honor their senior class with senior day ceremonies beginning approximately 20 minutes prior to first serve in that match.
