The Shippensburg University volleyball team opened its 2017 season on Friday, dropping a pair of five-set matches against Purdue Northwest and Florida Tech at the Flagler Saints Invitational in Florida.
 
In the first match, Shippensburg (0-2) claimed the second and fourth sets, but ultimately fell to Purdue Northwest (1-0) 15-10 in the fifth and final set. Scores were 18-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-18, 10-15.
 
Junior Morgan DeFloria recorded a team-high 18 kills in the first match, hitting at a .224 clip. Sophomore Samantha Webber hit .282 on 39 attempts with 17 kills.
 
Freshman Emily Hangen debuted at setter and recorded 45 assists in her first collegiate match. Hangen also went perfect on attacks in the opener, converting all four of her kill opportunities.
 
Sophomore Gabriella Johnson tallied 11 kills while sophomore Kendall Johnson recorded eight in the first match of the season.
 
SU played again right away, facing Florida Tech (1-0) in its second match of the day. The Raiders rallied to take the fourth set before falling again in the fifth. Set scores were 19-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-22 and 12-15.
 
DeFloria and Kendall Johnson both tied for the team high in kills with 14. Webber collected 13 kills, hitting .212 on 33 attempts.
 
Hangen recorded 46 assists while also leading the team in digs with 16. Gabriella Johnson recorded a match-high four service aces while also tallying 13 digs.
 
Defensively, sophomore Megan Forstburg totaled a match-high 35 digs on the afternoon. Also on the day, DeFloria totaled 32 kills and 26 digs. Webber hit .250 with 30 kills. Hangen had 91 assists over the two matches.  
 
Shippensburg will return to action Saturday at 12 p.m. when they take on Flagler in St. Augustine, Florida. The Raiders conclude their weekend tournament with a re-match against Purdue Northwest at 4:30 p.m.