EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa.- Looking to continue its winning ways of late, the West Chester women's volleyball team (20-6, 8-3 PSAC) took to the road on Friday night to face rival East Stroudsburg. West Chester battled throughout the match but East Stroudsburg held off the Golden Rams, winning 3-0 (27-25, 25-18, 25-19).
In the first set, West Chester remained within striking distance throughout the set and eventually rallied to even the set at 24-24. East Stroudsburg closed the first set out with a 3-1 run to claim a narrow 27-25 victory over the Golden Rams.
In the second set, East Stroudsburg jumped out to an early 10-4 lead and never looked back, eventually extending its lead to 23-13 late in the set. West Chester attempted to mount a late comeback and the Golden Rams did the cut the deficit down to single digits but East Stroudsburg held on for a 25-18 second set victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set opened with the two teams trading points before West Chester climbed out in front, taking a 9-5 lead over the Warriors. The Warriors remained well within striking distance before eventually evening the score at 12-12 near the midway point of the set. From here, West Chester and East Stroudsburg resumed trading points before the Warriors narrowly pulled back in front taking a 19-16 late in the set, which prompted a West Chester timeout. Out of the timeout, West Chester halted the East Stroudsburg run but the Warriors escaped with a third-set win by a final of 25-19 to take the match by a 3-0 final.
Julia Vreeswyk (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) had an impressive night with 18 kills while
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) posted a double-double and led the way in assists (34) and digs (19).
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) who entered play as the PSAC leader in aces, registered another ace in the setback while also tying with Byrne for the team lead in digs with 19 of her own.
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at Kutztown with that contest set to begin at 1 p.m.
