SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.- In need of a victory to guarantee itself a spot in the PSAC Tournament, the West Chester women's volleyball team (20-10, 8-6) returned to action on Saturday afternoon at Shippensburg (18-11, 10-4) in the regular season finale. West Chester battled throughout and took the first set by a 25-23 final after a late-set run, but the Raiders answered back and captured the next three sets to earn a 3-1 win over the Golden Rams.
With this result, coupled with a Kutztown loss vs Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg win over Lock Haven earlier tonight, West Chester has earned the fourth seed in the PSAC Tournament, advancing to the Quarterfinal round, which is set to begin on Wednesday night. West Chester will visit Shepherd for the second year in a row with a trip to the PSAC Semifinals on the line.
West Chester and Shippensburg traded points through the early going of the match, finding themselves tied at 4-4 in the early going. The set remained tight throughout, but West Chester eventually pulled away, using a 9-3 run (including a 4-0 run late in the first set) to earn a 25-23 first-set victory, closed out by a
Megan St. Jean (Eaton, Co./Eaton) kill.
The second remained close throughout, but Shippensburg managed to hold on to a slim lead, eventually taking the second set by a 25-18 final to even the match at 1-1. Shippensburg jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the third set before rolling to a 25-12 third-set victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Golden Rams and Raiders battled throughout the early going of the fourth set, trading points with the score tied at 6-6. West Chester went on a run near the midway point of the set to take a 15-12 lead before Shippensburg countered with a 4-0 run to erase the deficit, take a 16-15 lead, and prompt a WCU timeout. Out of the timeout, Shippensburg took each of the next three points to take a 19-15 lead late. Shippensburg used this late rally to hold off the upset-minded Golden Rams and earn a narrow 25-22 fourth-set victory and take the match by a 3-1 final on Saturday afternoon.
Jillian Borgerding (Highland Ranch, Co./Highland Ranch) led the way in kills with six along with 10 assists while freshman teammate St. Jean led the way in assists with 14 of her own. Borgerding also tied with
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) for the team lead in aces with two each while Heffner led the way in digs with 19 in the setback.
As a team, West Chester hit just 0.050 on the match as the Golden Rams fell to 8-6 in league play.
Up Next:
West Chester will shift its attention to top seed Shepherd in the opening round of the PSAC Tournament on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.
