The Shippensburg University volleyball team held a pair of leads after winning the first and third sets on Friday night but could not hold on at Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Southeast Division rival Millersville, dropping a five-set match to the Marauders by scores of 25-19, 28-30, 25-14, 28-30 and 9-15 from Pucillo Gymnasium.
 
Shippensburg (24-5, 16-2) slammed 78 kills – its most in a match in 12 years – and hit .231, but Millersville (24-7, 14-4) hit .214. The Raiders served nine aces but had 11 service errors, and also committed 26 attack errors compared to 19 by the Marauders.  
 
SU could not pull away in the second and fourth sets. The Raiders had set points at 25-24 and 28-27 in the second, but the Marauders countered each time. In the fourth set, Shippensburg overcame an 18-10 deficit and a 22-19 deficit to even the frame at 23-23. The Raiders staved off five set points by the Marauders down the stretch in the fourth but Millersville ultimately managed consecutive points again at 28-28 to send the match to five sets.
 
Seniors Gabriella Johnson and Samantha Webber had exemplary offensive performances on Friday night.
 
Johnson slammed a career-high 23 kills and hit .333 to complement 25 digs, three assists and a pair of block assists. It is her 17th double-double of the season with kills and digs and the 41st of her career. She moved up two spots into ninth on SU's all-time kills list (1,077), passing Michelle Doughty (2002-05) and Annie Goerl (2013-16). She also surpassed 1,500 career digs and now sits seventh in school history (1,506), passing Lauren Murphy (2009-12).
 
Webber ripped 23 kills – her fourth match of the season with 20 or more kills – while hitting .352 from the floor. She also had a solo block and a match-high six block assists – contributing to seven of SU's nine blocks on the night. Her performance moved her into third on SU's all-time kills list (1,356), passing Alyssa Kilgore (2001-04).
 
Junior Emily Hangen contributed 62 assists – two short of a career high – to mark her third 60-assist effort of the season. Hangen also had 19 digs, four kills and three block assists.
 
Senior Kendall Johnson had 13 kills and hit .258 to go along with five digs and a pair of block assists. Junior Gianna Sigado had nine kills, 14 digs and a career-high five aces. Fellow junior Alana Pergine added five kills.
 
Defensively, senior libero Megan Forstburg totaled a team-high 26 digs and had four assists. Redshirt-freshman Syera McCormick had 14 digs and three aces.
 
In the first meeting between the teams this season back on Oct. 25, the Raiders held Millersville to just 36 kills, and no Marauder had more than eight in the match. On Friday night, MU had 63 kills, and four players finished with 12 or more kills.
 
Shippensburg falls to 6-1 in five-set matches this season. Its 78 kills are the 10th-most recorded in an NCAA Division II match this season.
 
The loss puts Gannon in position to claim the No. 1 overall seed for the upcoming PSAC Tournament if it claims a victory on Saturday at Clarion.
 
Shippensburg concludes the regular season at 2 p.m. Saturday at West Chester.