The Shippensburg University volleyball team was defeated in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships Semifinal on Friday night by Seton Hill, dropping a 3-1 match to the Griffins by set scores of 25-20, 22-25, 27-25 and 25-16 from Gannon University's Hammermill Center.
 
Shippensburg (25-7) and Seton Hill (23-8) split the first two sets before the Griffins established a 24-20 lead in the third set. The Raiders rallied to even the third set at 24-24 and at 25-25, but Seton Hill scored the last two points of the frame to take a pivotal 2-1 lead. The Griffins then closed the fourth set on an 8-1 run to advance to Saturday's championship match.
 
The teams were equal in kills (55) and all but even in digs (90-89 in SU's favor), but the Raiders could not overcome 16 service errors, a total that matched a season high, and 13 Seton Hill blocks – the most recorded in a match this season by an SU opponent.
 
Junior Gabriella Johnson was a key contributor for the Raiders with 15 kills, 16 digs and a team-best .293 hitting percentage. Johnson achieved her 13th double-double of the season.
 
SU's middles were on point, as juniors Samantha Webber and Kendall Johnson combined for 26 kills and eight block assists. Kendall Johnson had 11 kills and hit .286.

Webber matched Gabriella Johnson with a team-high 15 kills, swinging .275. Including her 21 kills on Tuesday, Webber finished with 36 kills in two PSAC Tournament matches -- a performance that made her the 10th player in school history to achieve 1,000 career kills. She moved past Libby Woffindin (971 from 2008-11) on Tuesday, and now sits 10th in school history (1,004).
 
Senior Morgan DeFloria notched her 19th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 19 digs. Sophomore Emily Hangen had 52 assists to complement eight digs. Both women contributed three block assists.
 
Junior Megan Forstburg paced the defense with 28 digs, while redshirt-senior Courtney Malott added 16 of her own. Forstburg moved into seventh place on SU's career digs list (1,474), and Hangen moved into sixth on SU's career assists list (2,383). Kendall Johnson is now ninth all-time at SU in career blocks (284).

On the single-season charts, Forstburg ranks third in SU history (598) with a new career high, while Kendall Johnson is tied for eighth in block assists (93) and Hangen is 10th in assists (1,200).
 
Seton Hill entered Friday's match having won 14 of its last 16 matches and maintained that form with a .205 hitting percentage and six players contributing six or more kills in the match. Viktoria Farian, the PSAC Athlete of the Year, had 13 kills and 18 digs, while Jessica Hanson stepped up with eight kills, no errors, and eight block assists.
 
Shippensburg competed in its first PSAC Semifinal since 2015 and reached the conference semifinals for the ninth time in 15 seasons under head coach Leanne Piscotty.
 
UP NEXT: Sunday, 10 p.m., NCAA Selection Show (airs on ncaa.com).