SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V.- The West Chester University volleyball team (17-6, 6-4) picked up a crucial 3-1 (25-16, 25-21, 21-25, 26-24) victory over Shepherd (17-7, 6-5) to improve its PSAC Tournament aspirations on Saturday afternoon.
This victory is the Golden Rams' first win over Shepherd since 2011 and is the first win over the Rams in West Virginia since 2010.
West Chester jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-16 victory in the first set and a 25-21 victory in the second. In the first set, West Chester hit a blistering .429 (16-1-35) and followed it up with a .216 (14-6-37) effort in the second set, while holding Shepherd under .150 in both sets (first set 0.148; 9-5-27, second set 0.086; 11-8-35).
With a 2-0 lead in the match, West Chester battled back from an early deficit to tie the third set at 11-11 after a 5-0 run, which included a pair of
Elianna Freeman (Jersey Village, Texas/Jersey Village) aces and a pair of kills by
Abiah Lane (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion). Shepherd countered with a 7-0 run to take an 18-11 lead, and despite a valiant late-set run, which included three straight
Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban) aces, Shepherd escaped with a 25-21 victory to force at least a fourth set.
In the fourth, West Chester and Shepherd traded points early until West Chester went on another 5-0 run, which included kills by
Maeve Gallagher (Pottstown, Pa./Pope John Paul II) and
Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) along with a block by Gallagher and Kwitchoff, which gave the Golden Rams an 11-8 lead. The set remained tight as Shepherd answered back to tie the set at 20-20 before another 3-0 run, which included kills by Lane and Kwitchoff and a block by Kwitchoff, gave West Chester a 23-20 lead. Shepherd went on another 3-0 run to tie the set at 23-23 before the Golden Rams snuck out to a 24-23 lead. Shepherd had one more kill left, tying the set at 24-24 before a kill by Haines closed out the 3-1 road victory for West Chester by a 26-24 final.
West Chester hit .255 (53-18-137) in the victory, while Shepherd hit just .203 (50-23-133).
Lane and Haines finished with 13 and 10 kills each, while
Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove) posted a team-best five aces. Lane and Haines also added three aces each. Kwitchoff led the team in blocks with four, while Brown led in assists with 34. Freeman led in digs with 13, while
Megan Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) chipped in 10 of her own.
Ada McCoy led Shepherd in kills with 14, while Macy Buso led the team in blocks (five) and assists (37).
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Wednesday night against Pace, beginning at 6 p.m. to start a final three-game homestand.
