The Shippensburg University volleyball team extended its winning streak to nine matches Saturday after posting two more victories – including a signature triumph with a straight-set sweep over host No. 14 Wheeling Jesuit in Atlantic Region action at the Alma Grace McDonough Center.
 
Shippensburg (10-2) snapped a 10-match losing streak to Wheeling Jesuit (8-3) with its 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 victory on the Cardinals home floor. It is the first SU victory over WJU since an Oct. 6, 2006 sweep back when the sets required 30 points to win (30-23, 30-24, 30-26).
 
Saturday marked just the second loss for Wheeling Jesuit in 144 regional matches since the start of the 2013 season. The only other Atlantic Region team to have defeated WJU in that span is Gannon in last year's Atlantic Regional Championship.
 
After its defeat of Wheeling, SU then dispatched Fairmont State (4-6) by scores of 25-22, 25-17 and 25-13.
 
Against Wheeling, SU out-blocked the Cardinals by a 14-5 margin. Junior Samantha Webber had a career-high eight block assists – marking the most single-game block assists by a Raider since Taylor Gottshall had eight against UPJ on Oct. 18, 2014. Four different Raiders contributed at least five block assists in the victory.
 
Junior Gabriella Johnson was exemplary against Wheeling – posting a double-double of a season-high 14 kills to go along with 14 digs while hitting .286 (14-2-42) and tallying five block assists. Her 14 kills are her second-most in a single match, and her five block assists equal a single-match best.
 
Against Fairmont, Johnson produced another double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs while hitting .375. Overall on the day, Johnson had 24 kills, swung .318, and tallied 26 digs. Webber had 22 kills, nine blocks and hit .255.
 
Senior Morgan DeFloria was once again stellar, leading the Raiders on the day with 25 kills over the two matches. DeFloria also had 25 digs and hit .239. DeFloria had double-doubles in each match (11 kills, 14 digs vs. WJU; 14 kills, 11 digs vs. FSU).
 
From the middle, junior Kendall Johnson provided 12 kills and eight blocks on the day, while sophomore Alana Pergine delivered 10 kills and three blocks.
 
Sophomore Emily Hangen directed SU's offense to a .258 hitting efficiency on the day. Hangen had 80 assists (13.3 per set), totaled 23 digs, recorded six block assists and snuck in three kills.
 
Junior Megan Forstburg led the defense with 34 digs (5.6 per set).
 
UP NEXT: Friday, 7 p.m. at IUP.