WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University women's volleyball team (14-3, 4-2) continued its five-game homestand on Friday night against rival Shippensburg (14-6, 6-0). West Chester battled throughout the match and won the second set, which featured 15 ties and three lead changes by a 25-23 final, but it was not enough as Shippensburg escaped Hollinger with a 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 25-18) victory over the homestanding Golden Rams.
Shippensburg got out to an early 5-1 lead before West Chester responded with a 10-3 run, including a
Megan Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) ace, which forced an early timeout with the Golden Rams in front 11-8. Shippensburg answered the timeout with a run, which saw them take a 13-11 lead, but West Chester continued to battle, taking an 18-17 lead late in the set after a
Maeve Gallagher (Pottstown, Pa./Pope John Paul II) kill. Shippensburg countered with a 7-3 run to take a 24-21 lead and prompt the second West Chester timeout of the set.
Abiah Lane (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) kept the set alive with a kill, but Shippensburg closed it out quickly after this with a 25-22 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
After a first set, which featured seven ties and four lead changes, the second remained tight with 11 ties and two lead changes through the first 33 points of the set, but Shippensburg held an 18-15 lead, prompting a WCU timeout. West Chester countered with a 3-0 run, including a
Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove) ace, which forced Shippensburg to take its first timeout of the second set, as the Raiders drew the ire of longtime head coach Leanne Piscotty. Shippensburg took a 21-19 lead out of the timeout before West Chester answered back once again, tying the set at 21-21 after an ace by
CeCe Isenberg (Berwick, Pa./Berwick), forcing the visiting Raiders to take their second timeout of the set. The set remained tight throughout with 15 ties and three lead changes, but a late-run, punctuated by a block by
Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) and a kill by Lane, lifted the Golden Rams to a 25-23 second-set victory, tying the match at 1-1.
Shippensburg jumped out to a 10-3 lead to start the third set, forcing the Golden Rams to take their first timeout. The Golden Rams battled back and cut the deficit to 14-10 before Shippensburg won the next three points to take a 17-10 lead late in the third set. The Raiders used the early advantage to deny any West Chester comeback bid in a 25-17 third-set victory, taking a 2-1 lead into the match.
After hitting north of .350 in the first two sets and .406 (16-3-32) in the second-set victory, West Chester hit just .088 (10-7-35) in the third set as the Raiders retook the lead.
The fourth set was close early with the two sides trading points, and Shippensburg snuck out to a 6-4 lead. Shippensburg went on a 5-0 run to take an 11-4 lead and prompt a West Chester timeout. West Chester began its comeback bid from this point, cutting the Shippensburg lead to 16-13 after a pair of kills by Lane. Out of the timeout, Shippensburg halted the 3-0 Golden Ram run with two quick points to take an 18-13 lead and prompt another Golden Ram timeout. West Chester continued its comeback bid but was unable to come all the way back as the visitors escaped with a 25-18 fourth set victory and a 3-1 win in the match.
West Chester hit .231 (53-22-134) in the loss, including a pair of .088 and .062 efforts in the third and fourth set losses to the visiting Raiders.
Lane and Gallagher led West Chester in kills with 12 each, while Brown led West Chester in assists with 45, while also tying with Isenberg for the team lead in aces with two each.
Elianna Freeman (Jersey Village, TX/Jersey Village) led West Chester in digs with nine in the setback.
Gracen Nutt led Shippensburg in kills with 13 and chipped in three aces, while Berkley Simmons led the team in aces with five. Shay Kolivoski chipped in three aces of her own along with a match-best 15 digs.
Shippensburg hit .261 (44-13-119) in the match, including a .379 (13-2-29) first-set effort, which was the Raiders' best set of the match.
Tonight's loss is the Golden Rams' first home loss of the season after starting the year a perfect 9-0 in Hollinger.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at home against Shepherd, beginning at 1 p.m.
