WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After opening the season with a pair of 3-0 victories over Lincoln and Caldwell on Friday afternoon, West Chester (2-1) battled throughout the afternoon but fell to West Virginia State (2-0) by a 3-2 (12-25, 25-20, 25-14, 17-25, 15-12) final in the Golden Rams final match of the weekend at the PSAC East Kickoff Tournament presented by Brothers Pizza & Pasta.

West Chester captured the first set with ease, winning by a 25-12 final before dropping the second and third sets and winning the fourth by a 25-17 final to force the decisive fifth set. West Chester got out to an early lead in the fifth set but a late run by West Virginia State was the difference maker as the visiting Yellow Jackets erased the early deficit and captured the set by a 15-12 final to defeat the homestanding Golden Rams.

In the first set, West Chester jumped out to an 18-7 lead and rode this early lead to a 25-12 first-set victory.

The Golden Rams fell behind early in the second set and battled throughout but found themselves on the brink of dropping their first set of the season, trailing 22-17 in the late stages, which prompted head coach Kassie Bellaver to take her second timeout of the set. West Virginia State won each of the first two points out of the timeout before West Chester went on a run to cut the deficit to 24-20. The Yellow Jackets escaped with a second-set victory on a service error to tie the match at 1-1 heading into the third set.

West Virginia State started the third set on an 8-3 run, which led to an early WCU timeout as the Golden Rams hoped to slow the Yellow Jackets' sudden momentum. The visitors stretched this run into a 20-10 lead late in the third set, which led to the Golden Rams second timeout of the set. With a 10-point lead late, WVSU closed out the set with a 25-14 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Heading into the fourth set for the first time in 2026, West Chester jumped out to an 8-4 lead, which forced West Virginia State to take its first timeout since the first set.  West Chester continued its strong fourth-set performance with a 7-5 run out of the timeout, including a pair of Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) kills, which prompted the second WVSU timeout of the set at 15-9. The Golden Ram continued as West Chester stretched its lead to 20-9 after a Gwen Atkins (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) service ace. West Chester closed out the fourth set by a 25-17 final after an Addison Hertzog (Morgantown, Pa./Twin Valley) kill before getting out to an early lead in the fifth.

Leading 7-4 in the fifth set after an Anna Richardson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) kill, West Chester saw WVSU answer with a 5-1 run, which prompted a timeout. The timeout did its job with a service error into the net to tie the set at 9-9. The visitors snuck out to a 12-9 lead before West Chester scored two quick points, including another kill by Richardson, which cut the deficit to 12-11 and forced a WVSU timeout. Unfortunately, West Virginia State closed the match on a 3-1 run, escaping with a 15-12 victory to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Richardson led West Chester in kills with 13 in the loss, while CeCe Isenberg (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) chipped in 11 of her own. Brooke Forester (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell-Egan) led West Chester in aces with six, while Atkins posted three aces of her own.

Kwitchoff had an incredible afternoon on the block, being credited with 10 blocks, while Hertzog led West Chester in assists with 24 along with 13 digs, which was second best on the squad, trailing only Richardson and her 14.  

Up Next

West Chester will be back in action on Tuesday at Felician beginning at 6 p.m.