WEST CHESTER, Pa.-On the heels of an exciting five-set triumph over East Stroudsburg a night ago, the West Chester women's volleyball team (20-8, 8-4) returned to action on Saturday afternoon inside Hollinger Field House against Kutztown (12-11, 6-6) in a Senior Day showdown. In what was almost a repeat performance of Friday night, West Chester stormed back from being a set down early, defeating Kutztown in five sets (17-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-18, 18-16), to earn a critical league victory.
This win improved West Chester to 8-4 in league play, which currently has the Golden Rams sitting in solo second place, pending the outcome of Shippensburg/Lock Haven, which is a Saturday evening match. East Stroudsburg, who had entered the weekend tied with the Golden Rams and Raiders for second-place in the East, dropped its fifth straight on Saturday afternoon, falling to Millersville, whom West Chester has already swept this season by a 3-0 final inside Pucillo Gymnasium earlier this afternoon. Additionally, with the victory over Kutztown, West Chester has added another team to the mix of schools fighting for the fourth playoff spot at 6-6 on the year as Kutztown, Millersville, and East Stroudsburg are in a three-way tie for what would be the final spot in the PSAC Tournament out of the Eastern Division.
Prior to the match, West Chester took the time to honor its four seniors
Hailey Lewis (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), Ali Miller (Enola, Pa./Cumberland Valley), Tori Wright (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion), and Jillian Borgerding (Highland Ranch, Co./Highland Ranch) for all they have done for the Golden Rams throughout their careers.
In the first set, West Chester and Kutztown traded points throughout much of the set but it was the visiting Golden Bears who took an early 1-0 lead, after capturing the first set by a 25-17 final score, marking the second time in the last three matches in which West Chester trailed after the opening set.
Eager to avoid falling behind 2-0, West Chester bounced back in the second set with a 25-23 comeback victory thanks to a kill by Lewis to close out the set and even the match at 1-1.
In the third set, West Chester opened up with a 4-1 lead, thanks to a pair of back-to-back aces from
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty). Kutztown erased the early deficit and charged ahead to a 19-13 lead entering the late stages of the third set en route to a 25-14 third set victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, West Chester charged out to a 4-0 lead once more, prompting a quick Kutztown timeout as the Golden Bears looked to halt the Golden Ram momentum. The timeout did not accomplish its goal as the Golden Rams took two more quick points out of the timeout thanks to a kill by
Megan St. Jean (Eaton, Co./Eaton) and an ace by St. Jean on the next point to give West Chester a 6-0 lead before eventually stretching the advantage to 7-1. After Kutztown got its first point of the set, West Chester countered quickly with a two-point run by
Brynn Dreisbach (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) with a kill and ace combination of her own to stretch the lead to 9-1 and prompt another Kutztown timeout. Following the timeout, Kutztown worked to fight its way back into the set but West Chester held on for a 25-18 fourth-set win to force a fifth set.
Kutztown jumped out to an early 5-3 lead in the decisive fifth-set, prompting a quick West Chester timeout. West Chester continued to fight back as the fifth set went on, eventually trimming the deficit to 10-9, prompting a Kutztown timeout before evening the score at 10-10 after a Wright Kill. West Chester and Kutztown traded points but West Chester eventually earned an 18-16 fifth set victory to close out the match.
The senior duo of Wright and Lewis led the way in kills with 12 and 11, respectively while St. Jean led the team in assists with 22 while also posting a team-best five aces in the victory. Byrne logged three aces to rank second on the team in assists with 14.
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) led the way in digs with 14 while Dreisbach posted 11 digs of her own to help lead West Chester to the Senior Day triumph.
Nicole Dimiris (Hockessin, Del./Saint Mark's) led the team in blocks, finishing with eight in the victory while seniors Lewis and Borgerding registered three and two, respectively.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action next Friday night at Shepherd before visiting Shippensburg next Saturday afternoon in a pair of pivotal matches to close out the regular season.
