The Shippensburg University volleyball team clinched the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Central Division title on Tuesday night with a convincing road sweep of rival Pitt-Johnstown by set scores of 25-12, 25-13 and 25-17 from Sports Center.
Shippensburg (23-5, 13-3 PSAC) put forth a spectacular defensive effort against Pitt-Johnstown (16-12, 10-6), limiting the hosts to a -.095 hitting percentage on 105 attempts – marking the worst output by an opponent against the Raiders this season. SU totaled 10 blocks and forced 27 UPJ attack errors while serving eight aces on the night.
The hosts claimed a 2-0 lead in the first set, but that was the last time that Shippensburg would trail for the duration of the match. SU unleashed a 15-4 run in the opening set to lead 21-9, and a 7-0 run in the second set to flip a 17-12 lead into a 24-12 advantage. The third set was at 15-14 in SU's favor before the Raiders closed the match on a 10-3 run.
Junior
Samantha Webber, sophomore
Alana Pergine and junior
Kendall Johnson each totaled five block assists in the match, while sophomore
Emily Hangen had four. SU has posted 10 or more blocks in four consecutive matches and six times overall this season.
Webber paced Shippensburg with nine kills and hit .353, while Hangen recorded 23 assists and nine digs. Junior
Gabriella Johnson had seven kills and nine digs, while senior
Morgan DeFloria pitched in with six kills and 10 digs.
DeFloria,
Gabriella Johnson and redshirt-senior
Courtney Malott each served two aces. Malott had six digs, while junior
Megan Forstburg posted a team-high 12 digs and passed for three assists.
SU limited UPJ's Maura Brehl – the PSAC Central Division Athlete of the Week for four consecutive weeks entering Tuesday – to a zero hitting percentage on 43 attempts (nine kills, nine errors). Brehl had 22 kills and hit .339 in the previous matchup between the two teams this season – a five-set thriller that UPJ claimed at Heiges Field House. The Mountain Cats swung .224 in that match.
UP NEXT: Friday, 7 p.m. at Lock Haven.
