WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Looking to climb above .500 on the year to open October, the West Chester University women's volleyball team (7-6) returned home for its first match in Hollinger in nearly a month in non-league action vs Lincoln (0-8) on Wednesday night. West Chester accomplished its goal in dominant fashion as the Golden Rams rolled to a 3-0 (25-12, 25-10, 25-17) victory over Lincoln in under an hour to send the home crowd home happy once again.
West Chester put forth a complete effort on Friday night vs its local, non-league rival as the Golden Rams hit an outstanding .413 on the match, including a .476 percentage in the first set and an even more impressive .556 in the second set.
Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban) led all players in kills with nine on 11 swings, which led to her finishing the night with an otherworldly .727 hitting percentage, while also picking up a solo block in the victory.
West Chester fell behind by two points early after two quick aces before going on a 10-1 run, including back-to-back aces by
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton). West Chester continued its dominant first set performance as the set progressed, stretching its lead to 22-8 late in the set, which prompted the second Lincoln timeout of the first set. West Chester didn't waste much time closing out the first set after this timeout, rolling to a 25-12 first set victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
West Chester hit a stellar .476 in the first set and also got five aces as Heffner registered two and
Macey Baum (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) picked up back-to-back aces of her own later in the first set.
West Chester raced out to an early 8-2 lead after starting the set on a 4-0 run, including two more aces by Baum before Lincoln countered with a 4-1 run of its own to cut the deficit to 9-6. West Chester responded quickly, going on a 7-1 run to take a 16-7 lead late in the set, prompting another Lincoln timeout. The Golden Rams continued their run out of this timeout, outscoring the visiting Lions 9-3 down the stretch of the second set to capture a 25-10 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Golden Rams outstanding hitting performance continued in the second set as the Golden Rams hit a stellar .556 in the second, while logging five more aces as Baum registered two more and
Lexy Caltabiano (Woolwich Twp., N.J./GCIT) picked up three of her own to help the Golden Rams take a comfortable 2-0 lead into the third set.
The third set was a much closer set throughout as West Chester took a 3-1 lead early but Lincoln evened the score at 3-3 and remained within striking distance for much of the early part of the set. Leading 17-13 late in the set, West Chester went on a 3-0 run, which included an
Abiah Lane (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) kill, Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) block and
Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove) ace, which stretched the lead to 20-13 and prompted a Lincoln timeout. Brown picked up her third ace of the night following this timeout, which stretched the lead to 21-13 before Lincoln rattled off a 3-0 run of its own, including back-to-back aces to cut the deficit to 21-16. This was as close as West Chester allowed its guests to get on Wednesday night as the Golden Rams closed out the match in just under an hour with a 25-17 third set victory.
Baum led the team in aces with four and was one of five players with two or more as Heffner, Caltabiano, and Brown ended with three each, while Lane picked up two of her own to go along with one from
Amanda Redding. Brown ran the offense to perfection throughout the evening, registering 27 assists and three kills to compliment her three aces and six digs, while Heffner led the team in digs with seven.
For Lincoln, Kendra Williams was a bright spot for the Lions as she recorded a team-high six kills on a night that the visitors struggled to get much going against the Golden Ram defense, finishing the match with a .013 hitting percentage after hitting -.125 in the second set.
Up Next:
West Chester is back in action on Friday night at Lock Haven beginning at 6 p.m. as the Golden Rams jump back into PSAC East play.
