WEST CHESTER, Pa.- In need of a victory to bolster its PSAC Tournament chances, the West Chester (19-8, 7-4) women's volleyball team remained home on Friday night to begin its final home PSAC weekend of the season against East Stroudsburg (12-12, 6-5). Entering the match tied with the Warriors for second-place in the East, West Chester knew how important a win would be and the Golden Rams showed tremendous resolve, battling back from a first set loss to earn a big 3-2 (11-25, 25-12, 25-18, 18-25, 15-11) victory over the Warriors on Alumni Night inside Hollinger Field House.
Tori Wright (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) led all players in kills as one of three Golden Rams in double figures with 18 while
Brynn Dreisbach (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) registered 13 of her own with
Jillian Borgerding (Highland Ranch, Co./Highland Ranch) registering 10, including a crucial kill late in the fifth set to help West Chester to the all-important league victory.
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) led the way in assists with 27 as one of two Golden Rams in double figures while also posting a match-best five aces as one of five Golden Rams to record an ace in the
match.
Defensively,
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) led the way with 26 digs while
Hailey Lewis (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) and
Elise Smith (New Market, Md./Oakdale) tied for the match lead in blocks with one solo block and four block assists each in the thrilling victory.
In the first set, East Stroudsburg used a mid-set run to extend a 9-7 advantage and cruise to a 25-11 first victory to open the match with a 1-0 lead.
West Chester took little time to bounce back in the second set, jumping out to a 9-4 lead before eventually extending its lead to a set-best eight points (17-9) en route to a convincing 25-12 second set victory. West Chester was far improved in the second set of the match, hitting .333 on the set, up from a negative hitting percentage in the opening set.
The early going of the third set saw West Chester and East Stroudsburg trade points but a late block by
Hailey Lewis (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) and
Elise Smith (New Market, Md./Oakdale) gave West Chester a 17-16 lead, which the Golden Rams would not relinquish en route to a 25-18 third set victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Looking to put the match away in the fourth set, East Stroudsburg showed it had other ideas, racing out to an early 10-1 lead, prompting a quick timeout by the Golden Rams. As the set wore on, West Chester clawed its way back into the set, eventually trimming the deficit to 23-18 but the Warriors were able to get the final two points of the set to close out a 25-18 fourth-set victory and send the match to a decisive fifth-set.
As the Golden Rams entered a fifth set with the Warriors, they scored the first point of the set with an attack error by East Stroudsburg #14 Jasmin Perry. The Golden Rams set the pace with two strong back-to-back kills by
Tori Wright (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) and Hailey Lewis (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) bringing the score to 4-1 over the Warriors early in the set.
As the Golden Rams continued the fifth set with a score of 9-6 over the Warriors, freshman
Nicole Dimiris (Hockessin, DE/Saint Marks) demanded the Warriors attention with one of her five kills on the match to move the score to 10-6 in favor of the Golden Rams. With only 4 points left until a potential match victory,
# 11 Wright
and #14 Jillian Borgerding (Sophomore. Highlands Ranch, CO/Highlands Ranch) recorded back-to-back kills to move the score to 13-8 en route to a 15-11 fifth-set victory, closed out by a Warrior attack error to earn a crucial 3-2 PSAC East victory.
As a team, West Chester ended the match with a .221 hitting percentage, including a third-set percentage of .552 with 17 kills against just one error on 29 swings. For East Stroudsburg, Sydney Stone led the way in kills with 13 while the Warriors ended the match with a .213 hitting percentage, including a .028 effort in the second set and a .133 performance in the decisive fifth set.
UP NEXT:
The Golden Rams will be back in action on Saturday Afternoon in Hollinger Fieldhouse in another PSAC match against Kutztown University.
