EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa.- The West Chester women's volleyball team (13-5, 3-3) returned to action on Friday night at East Stroudsburg (11-8, 5-1) looking to halt a three-match losing streak. West Chester battled throughout the match and took the second set but eventually fell to the home standing Warriors by a final of 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-15, 25-8).
West Chester and East Stroudsburg traded points throughout the early part of the opening set before a 7-2 run from the Golden Rams gave the visitors an early 12-7 lead. West Chester maintained its five-point advantage over the next few points, eventually leading 14-9 before East Stroudsburg mounted a comeback, drawing back within a point at 16-15 and again at 19-18. A
Tori Wright (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) kill gave West Chester some breathing room at 20-18 before another big kill from Wright gave West Chester a 21-20 lead a few points later. West Chester and East Stroudsburg continued to trade points down the stretch of the first set as the score was deadlocked at 24-24 before a 2-0 run the by the Warriors lifted ESU to a 26-24 first-set victory.
After dropping the first set, West Chester stormed out to an early lead in the second set, taking a 10-3 lead to open the proceedings, prompting a quick ESU timeout. Following the timeout, the Warriors rallied their way back into the set, trimming the Golden Ram lead to 14-10 before a pair of kills by
Hailey Lewis (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) gave West Chester a 16-10 lead and prompted another ESU timeout. After its second timeout of the set, East Stroudsburg continued its comeback effort, cutting the Golden Ram lead to 20-19, prompting a West Chester timeout. Following the timeout, West Chester was able to close out the second set on a 5-2 run, finishing it out with a kill from Lewis to take the set by a 25-21 final, evening the match at 1-1.
In the third set, East Stroudsburg took an early lead and used its early advantage to withstand a mid-set run by the Golden Rams en route to a 25-15 third set triumph and a 2-1 lead in the match heading to the fourth set.
The Warriors jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set, taking a 6-1 lead, prompting a quick West Chester timeout. Following the timeout, West Chester chipped away at the ESU lead but the Warriors eventually extended their lead to 14-5, prompting the second WCU timeout of the set. East Stroudsburg closed out the fourth set with a 25-8 victory to take the match by a final of 3-1.
Wright led the way in kills with 13 while Lewis and Dimiris tied for second on the team in kills with six each. Wright also led the way in aces with two on the night while
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) registered 31 assists and
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) posted 19 digs to lead the way in each of these categories.
As a team, West Chester hit .085 on the evening while East Stroudsburg finished the match with a .274 hitting percentage in the victory.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action tomorrow afternoon at Kutztown with that match set to begin at 1 p.m.
