WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester women's volleyball team (4-0) returned to the court on Saturday afternoon and captured two more victories, registering a 3-0 win over Le Moyne before defeating Franklin Pierce by a 3-1 final to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Game 1: WCU 3 Le Moyne 0
In the first set, West Chester and Le Moyne traded points throughout the early going but it was West Chester who started to pull away midway through the first set, taking a 21-15 lead, which led to a Le Moyne timeout. Out of the timeout, West Chester took the next three points before Le Moyne battled back with two points of its own but a pair of blocks by
Lex Caltibano (Woolwich Twp., N.J./Gloucester County Institute of Technology) and
Elise Smith (New Market, Md./Oakdale) closed out the first set with a 25-17 victory for the Golden Rams.
West Chester opened the second set with an impressive 10-2 run, which prompted a quick timeout by the visiting Dolphins. Le Moyne mounted a small comeback late in the set, making the score 24-11 before the Golden Rams closed out the set with a kill from
Brynn Dreisbach (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) to take a 2-0 lead into the third set.
In the third set, West Chester raced out to an early lead once again, eventually turning it into a 15-5 advantage midway through the third set, prompting a Le Moyne timeout in an attempt to halt a 5-0 Golden Ram run. Out of the timeout, West Chester continued to cruise, eventually winning by a final of 25-10 to take a 3-0 match victory.
Dreisbach and Smith tied for the match lead in kills with 10 each while
Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) posted team-highs in assists (25) and aces (3). Fellow junior
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) led the way in digs with 16 while
Lexi Niedrowski (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) finished with 10 digs of her own.
Hailey Lewis (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) led the way in blocks with two in the victory.
As a team, West Chester hit .287 on the match, including a pair of plus-.300 hitting efforts, with a match-best .367 in the second set victory.
Game 2: WCU 3 Franklin Pierce 1
In the first set, West Chester and Franklin Pierce traded points throughout but neither side was able to take a lead larger than two points until the final points of the set when West Chester pulled ahead late in the set before eventually taking the first set by a 25-22 final thanks in large part to a great service run by
Jillian Borgerding (Highlands Ranch, Co./Highlands Ranch), which saw her win three points in a row for the Golden Rams including one via an ace to cap the run.
In the second set, Franklin Pierce jumped out to an early lead, going ahead 3-0 to open the set before West Chester roared back to take an 8-5 lead and force an early FPU timeout. Out of the timeout, West Chester continued to stretch its lead, scoring eight of the next 10 points to take a commanding 16-7 lead and prompt the second FPU timeout of the set. The timeout had its intended impact as the visitors were able to trim the Golden Ram lead back to four points, making the score 20-16 late in the set, which forced West Chester to take a timeout of its own. This timeout also served its purpose as the Golden Rams were able to halt the run and close out a 25-18 second set victory with a kill from Byrne to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Franklin Pierce jumped out to an early third set lead, going ahead by a score of 12-6, which prompted a West Chester timeout. Following the timeout, Franklin Pierce maintained its lead, stretching the advance to 17-9 entering the late stages of the set and prompting the second Golden Ram timeout of the set. Franklin Pierce held on to take the third set by a final of 25-15 and force a fourth set.
Franklin Pierce and West Chester traded points through the start of the fourth set but it was a 5-0 run from West Chester, which gave the Golden Rams a 9-5 lead and prompted the first FPU timeout of the set. Following the timeout, West Chester further extended its lead, taking a 18-10 lead and prompting another FPU timeout. Franklin Pierce rallied back and brought the score back to 21-15, which prompted a West Chester timeout but the timeout did its job nicely as the Golden Rams closed out the fourth set with a 25-16 victory to take the match by a 3-1 final.
Driesbach ended the match once again with a team-high 13 kills along with 11 digs as one of thre Golden Rams with over 10 digs in the victory. Byrne led the way in assists once again with 31 on the afternoon while chipping in 10 digs of her own. Heffner led the way in digs with 12 while also posting a team-best four aces in the victory.
Up Next:
West Chester will remain home to begin next week as the Golden Rams will host Holy Family in Hollinger on Tuesday night before taking to the road next weekend, heading to the Millersville Tournament where they will face Nyack, Fairmont State, Frostburg State, and Chestnut Hill next Friday and Saturday.
