WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After a grueling five-set victory over Lock Haven on Friday night, the West Chester University women's volleyball team (12-12, 4-6) was back in action on Saturday afternoon at home against Bloomsburg (8-15, 5-5). West Chester played well throughout the afternoon and picked up a crucial 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-23) victory over Bloomsburg in Hollinger Field House on Saturday afternoon.
Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban) led the match in kills with 12, while
Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) finished with three aces and four blocks, tying with Haines and
Amanda Redding for the team lead in blocks in the three-set triumph.
Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove) led West Chester in both assists and digs, finishing with 29 and 10 in the victory.
West Chester seldom trailed on Saturday afternoon against the Huskies, playing the match with just five lead changes, including two in the first set and three in the third, to capture its second win in a row and third in four matches.
West Chester got an early lead in the first set, racing out to a 10-4 lead before the Huskies stormed back to even the set at 18-18 and eventually grabbed a 21-20 lead entering the late stages. West Chester closed the opener on a 5-3 run, including kills from Brown, Kwitchoff, and
Anna Richardson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) to take a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, West Chester followed a similar script, racing out to an 11-3 lead before withstanding a Husky run that saw the team pull to within three, although this did not come until late in the second set when the visitors made the score 22-19. West Chester closed the set quickly once more, winning three of the last four points, ending the frame with a kill by Haines to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
West Chester knew its 2-0 advantage was not necessarily safe, finding itself in this exact position at Bloomsburg earlier this season only to have the Huskies storm back and win by a 3-2 final. Bloomsburg took an early 5-3 lead in the third set, but West Chester answered quickly, sneaking out to a 9-8 lead before trading points with its guests. The two sides went back and forth throughout much of the remainder of the set as neither team was able to open up any sort of comfortable advantage. With the score locked at 23-23 after a Marlee Johnson kill, Haines got West Chester to match point with her 12th kill of the day, and
Amanda Redding (San Marino, Ca./San Marino) closed it out with a kill of her own to lift West Chester to a 25-23 third set victory and a 3-0 win in the match.
For Bloomsburg, Johnson finished with 10 kills, and Sophie Wales led the team in aces with two in the setback. Elise Adelman led the squad in assists (21), digs (8), and blocks (2) in the loss.
Up Next:
West Chester will put its modest two-game winning streak to the test on Friday night as West Chester visits East Stroudsburg for a 7 p.m. start in the Poconos. Next weekend will be the Golden Ram's final road trip of the season, as the team will visit Kutztown next Saturday afternoon for a 4 p.m. start.
