SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team was taken to the wire Tuesday and responded with a huge fifth set to defeat West Chester (19-25, 25-16, 25-16, 20-25, 15-6) in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) quarterfinal match at Heiges Field House.
Shippensburg (28-8) hit .215 as a team with 57 kills in the five-set match. SU hit .250 in the first set, but West Chester came away with the victory. The Raiders hit .226 and .282, respectively, in sets two and three – both of which were won by nine points.
SU held the Golden Rams to .000 and .026 hitting percentages in the second and third sets, but WCU hit a scorching .357 to win the fourth set.
However, in the fifth set, SU captured the momentum and didn't let go. The Raiders rattled off seven straight points to take a 9-1 lead and eventually stunned West Chester by moving ahead, 14-2. The Golden Rams scored four consecutive points, but a West Chester attack error ended the match in favor of SU.
The Raiders were very balanced Tuesday as five different players recorded six or more kills. Junior
Annie Goerl led the way with 17 kills. She hit .271 on 48 total attacks and added 14 digs. The junior now has 12 double-doubles on the season, including five in the last six matches.
Senior
Faith Athey and senior
Taylor Gottshall both contributed 12 kills. Athey hit a team-high .310 and had three blocks.
Gottshall led SU with four blocks. She is currently second all-time in PSAC history with 458 block assists and is 12 shy of the conference record.
Sophomore
Courtney Malott had six kills and 19 digs, but her serving performance was the highlight of the night. Malott served five aces and SU scored 22 points with her serving.
SU ran off a streak of seven straight points in the second set with Malott serving and followed that up later with six-in-a-row as part of the decisive run in the fifth set, taking the score from 3-1 to 9-1.
Junior
Maura Nolan ended the night with 40 assists and 12 digs. The defense of sophomore
Maria Peluso was key for SU as well. The libero for SU led the team with 24 digs and had multiple big defenses against West Chester standout hitter, Molly Grammer (22 kills).
SU now travels to Pitt-Johnstown where the Mountain Cats will host the semifinal matches Friday and the championship match Saturday.
The Raiders will face Edinboro, the No. 1 seed from the PSAC West, in the PSAC semifinals. The two teams met in late September, with Edinboro winning in five sets.
The Raiders and Fighting Scots have played five sets in each of the last five meetings, with three of the matches needing extra points to decide the outcome. Dating back to 2005, the two teams have played five sets in nine of the last 11 meetings.
Friday's match will begin at 5 p.m. at Pitt-Johnstown.
