SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team rallied Friday night, taking the final two sets to come from behind and defeat visiting Seton Hill in a five-set Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) barnburner from Heiges Field House. Set scores were 25-16, 18-25, 21-25, 25-23 and 15-9.
Shippensburg (11-3, 3-0 PSAC) and Seton Hill (5-6, 1-2) combined for 27 blocks on the night and mostly kept each other's offenses at bay. The two squads also combined for more than 200 digs, as five players from each team finished with double-digit digs. The Raiders swung .119, while the Griffins swung .077.
Despite each team's relatively strong defense, aces were also prevalent on the night. Shippensburg served 10 aces – including four by junior
Gianna Sigado – while Seton Hill had nine aces of its own. Redshirt-freshman
Syera McCormick and freshman
Maria Lucas each contributed two aces for the Raiders.
Senior
Megan Forstburg finished with a career-high 35 digs – marking the fourth time in her career she has recorded 30 or more digs in a match. She also had four assists. Junior
Emily Hangen finished with 40 assists and 17 digs.
Senior
Samantha Webber led the Raiders with 16 kills and hit .229; she also equaled a career high with six digs. Senior
Gabriella Johnson posted her seventh double-double of the year with 10 kills and 17 digs, while Sigado knocked home nine kills and 16 digs.
Senior
Kendall Johnson had a hand in seven blocks (three solo), while Webber and
Gabriella Johnson each contributed to five blocks (each had two solo). Johnson also smashed seven kills. Friday marked the 27th career match in which
Kendall Johnson produced five or more blocks.
Junior
Alana Pergine and sophomore
Keri Gearhart each had important roles off the bench as outside hitters. Pergine had five kills and hit a strong .235 from the floor. Gearhart filled in during the fourth set and delivered three kills while hitting .167 overall.
Seton Hill received another excellent performance from All-PSAC performer Viktoria Farian, who paced the Griffins with 16 kills and a match-high 36 digs. Farian hit .150 despite 60 attempts.
Shippensburg is back in action at 1 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Cal U. from Heiges Field House.
