WHEELING, W.Va. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team rallied from a two-set deficit on Thursday but was not able to prevail in its NCAA Championships opening-round match with Clarion, dropping a 3-2 decision to the Golden Eagles by scores of 26-24, 25-19, 21-25, 18-25, 15-7 from the McDonough Center on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University.
 
Shippensburg (25-8) and Clarion (22-11) were nip-and-tuck in the first set, exchanging the lead eight times and playing to 11 ties. SU reached a set point at 24-23, but the Golden Eagles worked three Raider errors to counter and take the opening set.
 
The Raiders swung .233 in the second set after a .019 rate in the opening frame, but could not overcome a pair of Golden Eagle runs. CU took a five-point lead after a 7-2 run midway through the set, then closed the frame with the final four points to take a 2-0 match lead.
 
In the third set, Shippensburg overcame a 7-4 deficit with a 14-6 run. The Raiders held leads of 18-13, 21-15 and 24-20 in the frame. The fourth set was 14-13 in SU's favor before a 10-2 run officially flipped the momentum entering the decisive fifth set. Clarion, however, scored eight of the first 11 points in the final frame and then closed on a 5-1 run for the victory.
 
Shippensburg had to adjust its lineup for Thursday's match, as it was without the services of All-Region sophomore setter Emily Hangen due to injury. Redshirt-senior Courtney Malott stepped up in a big way, notching 36 assists, recording 18 digs, serving four of SU's 11 aces, and helping direct and lead an offense that hit .132 on the day.
 
Senior Morgan DeFloria provided her 20th double-double of the season and 40th of her career with a team-high 18 kills to go along with 16 digs. She also hit a team-best .228, committing just five errors over 57 attempts.
 
Junior Gabriella Johnson had 11 kills and a team-high 22 digs for her 14th double-double of the season. She hit .140 over 50 attempts. Fellow junior Megan Forstburg was key both defensively and with passing, totaling 20 digs and four assists.
 
The Raiders blocked well on Thursday, totaling 12 to mark the second-most in a match the season and the seventh time the team posted double-digit blocks. Junior Samantha Webber had six kills, one of which closed the fourth set, and six blocks while hitting .154. Junior Kendall Johnson had seven kills and six block assists. Sophomore Alana Pergine had three kills, including one to close out the third set, and three block assists.
 
Shippensburg performed well on its serve, totaling 11 aces. In addition to Malott's four, sophomore Gianna Sigado delivered three aces and senior Angela Tarabrella had two of her own. Sigado also set a new career high with 15 digs.
 
Clarion got strong performances from setter Leah Vensel, who totaled 58 assists, and junior outside Julia Holden, who led all players with 22 kills while hitting .200. The Golden Eagles swung .152 as a team with eight blocks.
 
Shippensburg's successful 2018 season included a school-record winning streak of 15 matches and marked the team's fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
DeFloria finishes second all-time at SU with 1,503 career kills. Malott finishes 11th all-time with 1,294 career digs.
 
SU's graduating class (DeFloria, Malott, Grace Ramacciotti, Tarabrella, Bridget Terrel) compiled a 102-37 career record – marking the most successful four-year run in program history.
 
SINGLE-SEASON RANKS:
 
Megan Forstburg
3rd in digs (618)
 
Emily Hangen
6th in assists (1,260)
 
Kendall Johnson
7th in block assists (100)
 
Morgan DeFloria
9th in kills (412)
 
Samantha Webber
13th in block assists (82)
 
More season and career ranks HERE