RUTHERFORD, N.J.- Following a 3-0 victory over Caldwell on Saturday afternoon, the West Chester women's volleyball continued its weekend trip to the Garden State with a tri-match on Sunday in Rutherford against Felician and St. Thomas Aquinas (STAC). The Golden Rams opened the day with a 3-0 victory over host Felician before closing out their busy weekend with a 3-1 victory over STAC later on Sunday afternoon.
Match 1: WCU 3 Felician 0
West Chester opened its Sunday with a 3-0 victory over Felician. West Chester battled throughout the match and took the opening set by a 25-20 final to take an early 1-0 lead in the match.
West Chester found itself behind early in the second set, trailing 9-3, but erased this deficit quickly and earned a 25-16 second-set victory after outscoring its hosts 22-7 down the stretch of the second set. In the third, West Chester and Felician traded points throughout much of the set before the Golden Rams won the set by a 25-23 final to capture the match by a 3-0 final.
Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban) led WEST Chester in kills with 11, while
Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) led in aces with two.
Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove) finished with a double-double, registering 30 assists and 12 digs, while
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) posted a team-high 16 digs along with five assists in the victory.
West Chester ended the match hitting .177, including a solid .265 in the first set, while holding Felician to a .128 hitting percentage, including a negative performance in the second set. Karla Maldonado led Felician in kills (eight) and aces (one), while Kiah Jackson posted a match-high six blocks. Rylee Botelho led the way in assists with 12, while Aly Reeser led the way defensively, finishing with 18 digs in the loss.
Match 2: WCU 3 STAC 1
West Chester and St. Thomas Aquinas traded points throughout the first set, but the Spartans inched out to a 22-18 lead after a Chloe Weiting kill. West Chester mounted a comeback, winning five of the next seven points to tie the set at 23-23. The Spartans got the first set point of the afternoon at 24-23, but West Chester won each of the next three points to capture the set by a 26-24 final after an
Abiah Lane (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) kill closed it out.
In the second set, STAC jumped out to an early 7-1 lead before West Chester went on a 15-8 run to take a 16-15 lead late in the second set. The two sides traded points down the stretch of the second set, but this time it was STAC who escaped with a 25-23 second-set victory to even the match at 1-1.
West Chester opened the third set on a 5-1 run, thanks in part to a pair of quick aces by
Megan Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove). West Chester continued its dominant third-set performance, extending its lead to 20-8 late in the set thanks in part to a 5-0 Golden Ram run, led by a pair of kills from
CeCe Isenberg (Berwick, Pa./Berwick). Using their late lead, the Golden Rams closed out the third set quickly, winning by a 25-14 final to take a 2-1 lead into the fourth set.
In the fourth, STAC got an early 8-5 lead before West Chester won nine of the following 14 points to take a slim 14-13 lead midway through the fourth set. The Spartans tied the match at 14-14 before a 4-0 run by West Chester, led by an ace by Wolfe and a kill by
Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban), gave West Chester an 18-14 lead entering the late stages of the fourth set. West Chester stretched its lead to 22-16 before a 5-1 run by the Spartans cut the Golden Ram lead to 23-21. STAC evened the match at 24-24 before Haines closed out the match with back-to-back kills to lift the Golden Rams to a 26-24 fourth-set victory and a 3-1 win in the match.
Haines tied with
Anna Richardson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) for the team lead in kills with 11 each, while Wolfe led the team in aces with four.
Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove) led the team in assists with 40, while
Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) led in digs with 23. Brown also chipped in 10 digs to help support the Golden Ram defense and record a vital double-double.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Wednesday night at Millersville beginning at 7 p.m. in the team's PSAC East opener against the Marauders.
