WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The West Chester women's volleyball team (2-0) opened its 2022 slate on Friday afternoon at home on day one of its Annual Ram Fest Tournament, taking the opening match from Goldey-Beacom by a 3-0 final before defeating Georgian Court by a 3-1 final.
Game 1: WCU 3 Goldey-Beacom 0
Following a first set comeback victory, which saw West Chester and Goldey-Beacom trade points throughout much of the early going, West Chester wasted little time jumping out to a 10-4 lead early in the second set. This early second set lead allowed West Chester to carry a 17-8 advantage into the late stages of the set, prompting a quick Goldey-Beacom timeout. Following the timeout, West Chester cruised to a second set victory by a final score of 25-12 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, West Chester and Goldey-Beacom traded points throughout the early stages but it was a mid-set run by West Chester, which gave the Golden Rams a 17-10 lead late in the third set, prompting a Goldey-Beacom timeout. In the late stages of the third set, Goldey-Beacom attempted to rally back but West Chester was able to stave off the Lightning as it had for much of the afternoon en route to a 25-16 third set triumph and a 3-0 match victory.
Tori Wright (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) led the way in kills for West Chester with 10 while fellow newcomer
Brynn Dreisbach (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) finished with seven kills of her own.
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) picked up right where she left off a year ago, finishing with 29 assists while also tying with
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) for the team lead in digs with eight in the victory.
Jillian Borgerding (Highlands Ranch, Co./Highlands Ranch) and Heffner also tied for the match lead in aces with two aces each.
As a team, West Chester hit .250 in the season-opening victory, including a third-set effort, which saw the team hit .292 while holding Goldey-Beacom to a hitting percentage of .059.
Game 2: WCU 3 Georgian Court 1
In the early stages of the first set, Georgian Court kept things close, keeping the deficit to 8-7 in the early going of the set before West Chester went on a 9-3 run to take a 17-10 lead late in the set. This run prompted a Georgian Court timeout to attempt to halt the run but it was unsuccessful as West Chester closed out the first set on a 8-4 run to take the first set by a 25-14 final score.
To open the second set, Georgian Court showed early life, briefly taking a two-point (3-1) lead before West Chester roared back, scoring eight of the next nine points to take a 9-4 lead and prompt an early Georgian Court timeout. Out of the timeout, Georgian Court put together a run of its own, moving the score to 14-13 before a quick 3-0 run by the Golden Rams restored some breathing room and prompted Georgian Court's second timeout of the set. The second timeout did its job as the Lions answered back out of the timeout to even the score at 17-17 in the second set and prompt a timeout by the Golden Rams. Georgian Court briefly retook the lead making the score 18-17 before West Chester answered back with a 6-3 run to take a 23-21 lead late in the set. Georgian Court answered back to even the score at 23-23 and after trading points back and forth down the stretch of the set Georgian Court escaped with a 29-27 second set victory to even the match at 1-1.
After dropping the second set, West Chester took little time to get an early lead in the third, racing out to an 8-1 lead, prompting an early Georgian Court timeout. West Chester used this early lead to cruise to a 25-13 third set victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth, Goldey-Beacom led for much of the early going until West Chester was able to tie the score at 11-11, prompting a Lions timeout. Out of the timeout, West Chester went on a 8-5 run to take a 19-16 and prompt a late timeout from the Lions before West Chester closed out the match with a 25-18 fourth set victory.
Wright ended the match with a team-high 17 kills while Dreisbach finished with 13 kills of her own in the victory. Heffner led the way in digs once again with 21 while Byrne finished with 36 digs to continue her strong opening day performance.
Lexi Niedrowski (Sinking Springs, Pa./Wilson) and
Jillian Borgerding (Eaton, Co./Eaton) tied for the team lead in aces with three aces each in the victory.
West Chester ended the match with a .279 hitting percentage thanks in large part to an impressive third-set effort, which saw the team hit .304 on the year.
Up Next:
West Chester will be back in action tomorrow morning vs Le Moyne beginning at 10 a.m. before hosting Franklin Pierce in the nightcap beginning at 2 p.m.
