WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Maeve Gallagher (Pottstown, Pa./Pope John Paul II) finished with a team-high 15 kills to lead the West Chester University women's volleyball team (19-6, 7-4) to an important 3-1 (25-19, 25-14, 26-28, 25-22) victory over Kutztown (12-13, 4-7) on Friday evening in Hollinger Field House.
West Chester and Kutztown traded points early in the first set before the Golden Rams went on a 6-1 run to take a 17-12 lead and force a Kutztown timeout. West Chester snuck out to a 21-15 lead before Kutztown won the next two points to force the first Golden Ram timeout of the match.
Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban) and
CeCe Isenberg (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) combined for a block to halt the Kutztown run and forced the Golden Bears to burn their second timeout. West Chester closed out the first set with a 25-19 victory after a final error by the Golden Bears to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
West Chester hit .436 (19-2-39) in the first set, while holding its guests to .231 (13-4-39) hitting in the opening set.
West Chester jumped out to an early 10-4 lead before back-to-back aces by
Elianna Freeman (Jersey Village, Texas/Jersey Village) gave the Golden Rams a 16-6 lead and forced a second Golden Bear timeout. West Chester continued its dominant second-set performance, which saw the team hit a blistering .636 (16-2-22) as an
Abiah Lane (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) kill closed out a 25-14 second-set victory for the homestanding Golden Rams.
Kutztown jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the third set, which prompted the first Golden Ram timeout of the set. West Chester battled its way back into the set and cut the Golden Bear lead to 13-12, which forced the first Kutztown timeout of the set. West Chester battled back to tie the set at 15-15, but Kutztown snuck out to a 22-19 lead after an ace, which forced another Golden Ram timeout. West Chester had another comeback in store, roaring back to tie the set at 23-23 after kills by Lane and Haines, along with a combined block from Haines and Isenberg, prompting the second Kutztown timeout of the set. West Chester got to match point before Kutztown battled back to win the third set after a Grace White kill, which forced the match to go to a fourth set.
After exceptional efforts in the first two sets, West Chester hit just .205 (15-6-44) in the third set as the Golden Bears found a way to extend the match for at least one more set.
After a third set, which featured 11 ties and seven lead changes, Kutztown got out to an early lead, but West Chester answered quickly, taking an 11-7 lead, which forced an early Kutztown timeout. Kutztown battled back and cut the West Chester lead to 16-14 before the Golden Rams stretched the lead back to 19-15, forcing the second Kutztown timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, Kutztown cut the West Chester lead to 21-20, which led to the first Golden Ram timeout of the set. West Chester stretched its lead to 24-221 and eventually won the set 25-22 and the match by a 3-1 final for a crucial PSAC East victory.
Gallagher was one of four Golden Rams with double-digit kills as Haines finished with 13, along with 11 from Lane and 10 from
Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield), to post the 3-1 victory and season sweep over the Golden Bears.
Lane, Freeman, and Haines all registered two kills each, while Freeman also led the team in digs with 15, along with 12 from Lane, 11 from
Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove), and 10 from
Macey Baum (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove). Brown also led West Chester in assists with 50.
Madilyn Bogovic led Kutztown in kills with 16, while Paige Skinner finished with 14, along with a match-high four aces in the loss.
West Chester hit .303 (63-17-152) in the victory, including its tremendous .636 effort in the second set, while Kutztown hit just .192 (51-22-151) and did not hit over .250 in any set, including two sets below .200.
Tonight's victory gives West Chester an important season sweep and tiebreak over the Golden Bears heading into the final three matches of the regular season as the team looks to return to the PSAC Tournament for the first time since 2022.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action tomorrow afternoon against East Stroudsburg for Senior Day, beginning at 1 p.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive early, as Senior Day ceremonies will take place roughly 20 minutes prior to the start of the match.
