West Chester at Shepherd
Game Details: October 11 I 7 P.M.
Location: Butcher Athletic Center (Shepherdstown, W.V.) CLEAR BAG POLICY
Series: 4-13
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Video
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Shepherd Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
West Chester at Shippensburg
Game Details: October 12 I 1 P.M.
Location: Heiges Field House (Shippensburg, Pa.)
Series: 27-59
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Video
Shippensburg Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
Looking for its fourth win in a row, the West Chester University women’s volleyball team returned to action on Saturday afternoon at Bloomsburg, and despite winning the first two sets in short order, West Chester saw its winning streak snapped by the Huskies by a 3-2 final. With a 2-0 lead, West Chester had a late 23-22 lead, but Bloomsburg closed the set on a 3-0 run and used this momentum to win the fourth set by a 25-22 final and the fifth by a 15-9 final. Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) led the team in kills with 13, while Anna Richardson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) chipped in 12 of her own. Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove) led the team in assists with 30 while tying with Meg Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) for the lead in aces with two each. Lexy Caltabiano (Woolwich Twp, N.J./GCIT) led the team in digs with 13, while Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) chipped in 12 of her own in the loss.
Flock Talk
West Chester heads on the road for its fourth and fifth PSAC East matches of the year with an overall record of 8-7 and a mark of 1-2 in league play. It is looking to return to and move above .500 in league play this weekend against Shepherd and Shippensburg.
Richardson and Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban) lead the team in kills with 140 and 130, respectively. Brown leads the team in assists with 366 while also ranking second in digs with 107, trailing only Heffner and her 204. Brown also passed Megan St. Jean for the team lead in aces over the weekend, picking up her 18th and 19th aces of the season, while Nicole Dimiris (Hockessin, Del./Saint Mark’s) and Kwitchoff rank first and second in blocks with 39 and 30 on the campaign.
Serving Up History
Over the weekend, Heffner moved into a tie with Lisa Campbell in career aces with 157 and is now chasing Nicole Vetock for 10th all-time with 164. Once Heffner reaches Vetock, she would be just nine aces shy of matching Greta Neff’s mark of 173, which ranks fifth in program history.
Heating Up
Despite a heartbreaking 3-2 loss at Bloomsburg on Saturday, West Chester has won six of its last eight matches, five of which have been in straight sets.
Series History
West Chester trails Shepherd 13-4 in the all-time series and trails Shippensburg 59-27. West Chester has not beaten Shepherd since 2011 and recorded its only win in Shepherdstown against the Rams in September 2010. West Chester posted its last victory over Shippensburg in Hollinger in November 2021 and has not beaten the Raiders in Heiges since October 2015.
Scouting Shepherd
Shepherd enters the weekend with a solid record of 11-4 on the year, including a record of 3-0 in league action with wins over Shippensburg, East Stroudsburg, and Kutztown in its last three matches. The Rams three-game winning streak, which started just in time for PSAC East play, came at a critical time for the Rams as they entered play at Shippensburg on a four-game losing streak after being swept in a weekend series at IUP, falling to Daemen (3-2), Pitt-Johnstown (3-1), IUP (3-1), and Chestnut Hill (3-1).
Most recently, Shepherd defeated Kutztown by a 3-1 final in Kutztown on Saturday afternoon, winning the first two sets by 25-18 and 25-19 finals before falling in the third (25-19) and winning the fourth (25-20) to close out the match. Shepherd hit north of .300 in the first (.3444) and fourth (.313) sets as Joi Fairweather led the team in kills with 11 to go along with 10 from Sophia Ryan. Macy Buso led in aces (four) and assists (33) while registering 10 digs, while Sophia Ryan led the team in blocks with five. Harli Zeitz led Shepherd in digs with 16, while Jordan Pryor added 13 of her own in the victory.
Rylee Lenz and Amya Davis lead the Rams in kills on the year with 138 and 130, respectively, while Buso is first on the team in assists with 500, which is fifth best in the PSAC and third in the PSAC East. Madigan Faircloth leads Shepherd in both aces (24) and digs (155), while the duo of Ryan and Fairweather lead the way in blocks with 77 and 59, respectively.
Scouting Shippensburg
Shippensburg (6-9, 2-1) enters the weekend on a three-match winning streak, including a pair of wins over Kutztown and East Stroudsburg last weekend by 3-0 and 3-1 finals. The Raiders, who have now won five of their last six, will open the weekend on Friday night at 7 p.m. vs. Millersville before welcoming West Chester, who will trade places with the Marauders for a Saturday afternoon matchup beginning at 1 p.m.
At East Stroudsburg on Saturday afternoon, Shippensburg dropped the first set by a 25-17 final but roared back to win the next three (25-21, 25-22, 25-12) and capture the match by a 3-0 final. After a -.081 hitting effort in the first set, Shippensburg hit north of .200 in the next three, hitting .280 in the second, .211 in the third, and a match-high .265 in the fourth to complete the comeback victory. Emily Gardner led the team in kills with 19 while also leading the squad in blocks (one) and digs (19), while Shay Kolivoski was second with 18 digs and three assists. Berkley Simmons led the way in aces with six, Kat Negron chipped in five, and Kearstin Davis led the team in assists with a match-high 40.
Gardner leads the team in kills on the year with 176, while Isabelle Bombas is second with 116. Davis leads the team and ranks in the top five in the PSAC in assists with 598, while Simmons leads the team in aces with 25, just two ahead of Kolivoski and Negron with 23 each. For her part, Kolivoski leads the team in digs with 273, while Gardner has 199, and Bombas leads the team in blocks with 34.0, while Natalie Montague has 23 of her own.
