WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban) led all players with 14 kills and hit .500 (14-3-22) to help lead the West Chester University volleyball team (9-1, 1-0) to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-17) victory over Millersville (4-9, 0-1) to open PSAC East play on Wednesday night.
The Golden Rams never trailed in the first two sets and erased an early deficit in the third to open East play with a 3-0 victory over the visiting Marauders.
West Chester jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and, despite a Millersville run, which saw the Marauders cut the lead to 6-5, held a 10-5 lead early in the set after a
Bria Stepp (Cranberry Twp, Pa./Seneca Valley) ace, which prompted a quick timeout by the visiting Marauders.
Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) answered the timeout with a block and kill to get the lead to 12-5 before Millersville battled back once again, cutting the lead to 16-12 midway through the set. The Golden Rams were the first team to 20, jumping out to a 20-13 lead on an
Anna Richardson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) ace before Millersville cut the lead to 21-17, prompting a Golden Ram timeout. West Chester eventually closed out the set with a 25-22 victory after the fourth and fifth kills of the set by Kwitchoff, who hit .714 in the opening set.
The two sides traded points through the early going of the set before West Chester went on a run to take a 14-6 lead and prompt a quick Millersville timeout. The timeout did little to halt the Golden Ram momentum as West Chester captured the second set by a 25-11 final, finishing out the set with an ace by Stepp, her third of the night.
Zoe Haines (York, Pa./York Suburban) was excellent for West Chester in the second set, picking up seven kills to help the Golden Rams take a 2-0 lead.
The two sides traded points early in the set once again before West Chester took a 15-11 lead thanks in part to a pair of aces by
Lacie Brown (Cochranville, Pa./Avon Grove), which prompted another Millersville timeout. After the timeout, West Chester finished out the third set, which featured nine ties and six lead changes swiftly, coming away with a 25-17 victory and a 3-0 win in the match to open league play.
Abiah Lane (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) led West Chester in kills with 13, while Brown led the team in assists and aces with 36 and six, respectively. West Chester finished the night with 13 aces on 74 serves and just seven errors, while also hitting .300 (43-16-90) in the victory. This .300 effort included a .519 (17-3-27) in the third-set victory.
Kwitchoff had a pair of solo blocks and had a hand in a pair of assisted blocks, while Brown and
CeCe Isenberg (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) assisted on three each.
Taylor Welter led Millersville in kills with seven in the setback. Millersville hit just .128 (23-13-78) in the loss, including a -.043 (3-4-23) effort in the second set loss.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Friday night at Holy Family beginning at 5 p.m.
