WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University women's volleyball team (8-9, 1-3) returned home on Friday night to begin a homestand with a PSAC East clash against Lock Haven (11-5, 4-1). West Chester jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Lock Haven roared back for a reverse sweep to defeat the Golden Rams 3-2 (18-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-14, 15-10) on Friday evening.

Brooke Forester (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell Egan) led West Chester in kills with 12 as she hit .194 (12-5-36) on the night with an ace and a hand in three blocks, but it was not enough to lead the Golden Rams to what would have been a crucial PSAC East win over the Bald Eagles. Forester was one of three Golden Rams with double-digit kills as Anna Richardson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) picked up 11 kills of her own, along with 10 from Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield), who also led West Chester in blocks with six, including a pair of solo blocks.

West Chester took a 2-0 lead with a 25-18 win in the first set and a 25-22 win in the second, though the Golden Rams trailed briefly across those two victories, with two lead changes and five ties through the first two sets.

In danger of a sweep, Lock Haven battled back in the third set, capitalizing on late momentum from a second-set surge, which made things close late to hit .324 (18-6-37) in the third and .478 (13-2-23), while holding West Chester to just .147 (9-4-34) and .032 (8-7-31) in the third and fourth to even the match at 2-2 and force a decisive fifth set.

West Chester led briefly in the final set, including a 7-6 lead following a Kwitchoff block, which seemed to inject some energy into the Golden Rams, but the Bald Eagles closed the match on a 9-3 run to take the fifth set by a 15-10 final and win the match 3-2.

Hailey Atkins (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) led West Chester in digs with seven and was one of five Golden Rams to record an ace in the match. Maeve Gallagher (Pottstown, Pa./Pope John Paul II) led West Chester in aces with two. Ada Koksal (Istanbul, Turkey/Terakki) led the Golden Rams in assists with 34.

West Chester hit just .147 (46-26-136) in the loss, with its best performance coming in the first set, when the Golden Rams hit .268 (13-5-31).

Lock Haven, led by 17 kills from Madelyn Mitchell, who hit .237 (17-8-38) and .244 (58-25-135) in the victory, including a .478 effort in the fourth set.

Up Next

West Chester will need to shake off tonight's loss quickly as the Golden Rams return to action at home tomorrow afternoon against Kutztown beginning at 1 p.m.