The Shippensburg University volleyball team began its Saturday with a five-set loss to Bellarmine (19-25, 20-25, 25-18, 28-26, 11-15) and then rallied to sweep Malone (25-12, 25-21, 25-22) to conclude a four-match weekend at the Ashland University Tournament contested inside Kates Gymnasium.
 
Shippensburg (2-2) rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the opener against Bellarmine (2-1) to force a fifth set, but the Knights scored six of the final nine points to claim the match.
 
SU won the first set convincingly against Malone (2-2) before weathering a pair of strong surges from the Pioneers – the Raiders won the final four points of the second set and then eight of the final 11 points in the third set to claim victory.
 
Offensively, Shippensburg exceled to the tune of a .243 hitting percentage. Four players finished the day with double-digit kills, while sophomore setter Emily Hangen averaged 10.1 assists per set (81 overall) and hit .500 (6-0-12) herself. Hangen also provided a career-high 25 digs in the Bellarmine match.  
 
The Raider middles – juniors Samantha Webber and Kendall Johnson – were exemplary on Saturday. The duo combined for 50 kills and 11 blocks while hitting .364.
 
Webber hit .429 (18-3-35) against Bellarmine, leading the team in kills in the match, and then swung .412 (9-2-17) against Malone. Johnson had double-digit kills in both matches, swinging .303 (13-3-33) against Bellarmine before hitting .320 (10-2-25) against Malone. Johnson also had eight blocks – including five in the Malone match.
 
Senior Morgan DeFloria maintained her excellent hitting with a team-high 29 kills on the day and produced double-doubles in both matches. DeFloria hit .158 (15-6-57) and had 12 digs against Bellarmine and then swung .314 (14-3-35) with 10 digs against Malone.
 
Junior Gabriella Johnson had eight kills and 20 digs against Bellarmine – her fifth career 20-dig effort – and then hit .286 (7-1-21) with six digs and four blocks against Malone. Junior libero Megan Forstburg had 28 digs overall on the day, including a team-high 11 digs in the Malone match, and tallied nine assists.  
 
Sophomore Alana Pergine finished the day with five kills, eight digs and two blocks. Fellow sophomore Gianna Sigado had nine digs against Bellarmine.
 
Up Next: Friday, 1 p.m. vs. Urbana (at Charleston (W.Va.)) | 7 p.m. at Charleston (W.Va.)
 
Notes: DeFloria has moved into sixth on SU's career kills list (1,146), moving past Taylor Gottshall (1,097) with her performance this weekend…DeFloria is 67 kills away from reaching Kali Antolik (2006-09) for fifth place in SU history at 1,213 kills…Hangen moved into ninth on SU's career assists list (1,270)…Forstburg is 50 digs shy of reaching 1,000 for her career.