The Shippensburg University volleyball team began two weeks of crossover matches against Mountain East Conference (MEC) opponents on Friday with a pair of victories, first rallying from a two-set deficit to defeat host West Virginia State before sweeping West Virginia Wesleyan in action from Institute.
 
Shippensburg (5-0) defeated West Virginia State (0-5) by scores of 21-25, 22-25, 25-23, 28-26 and 15-8. The win over West Virginia Wesleyan (0-5) featured set scores of 25-16, 25-15 and 25-17.
 
The Raiders were within one point of the Yellowjackets late in the first set, 21-20, before the hosts scored four of the final five points to take the frame. SU led 21-17 in the second set, but the Yellowjackets responded with five straight points and eight of the final nine in the frame to go ahead 2-0.
 
Shippensburg's prospects were especially grim midway through the third set, as the Raiders called timeout trailing 17-11. SU scored five straight points after the timeout, and ultimately three of the final four in the frame, to take the third set.
 
The fourth set featured 12 ties and seven lead changes, and the Raiders holding a late 24-21 lead. The Yellowjackets won four straight to earn a match point at 25-24, but SU responded with four of the final five points to send the match into the fifth set. In the final frame, the Raiders raced out to leads of 8-3 and 12-5 before claiming victory.
 
West Virginia State, coming off a tough opening weekend in Hawaii against the likes Chaminade (receiving votes in the national poll) and Sonoma State, applied the pressure to the Raiders with 10 service aces and 15 total blocks. The Yellowjackets swung .407 in the opening set and .268 in the pivotal fourth set, and were paced by 21 kills from Jenna Dufresne and 11 blocks from Gabrielle Thompson.
 
Shippensburg received its second-straight 20-kill performance from senior Samantha Webber, who finished one shy of her single-match career high set last Saturday by totaling a match-high 24 kills. Webber hit .429 and had five block assists.
 
Her fellow middle, senior Kendall Johnson, slammed a single-match career high of 19 kills, swung .400, and equaled Webber with five block assists. It was the second time this season and the 31st time in her career that Johnson posted double-digit kills in a match.
 
Senior Gabriella Johnson posted another double-double with 12 kills and 18 digs, swinging .276 and contributing four block assists. Junior Gianna Sigado, who hit the decisive final two kills of the fourth set, equaled a single-match career high with nine kills, swinging .286.
 
Once again serving as the invaluable distributor was junior setter Emily Hangen, whose single-match career high of 61 assists is the most by a Raider in 10 years and marks the second time in her career that she has achieved 60 or more assists in a match. Hangen also had six digs and two block assists.
 
Senior libero Megan Forstburg had 16 digs against West Virginia State, while senior Faith Loehle served two of the team's six aces.
 
The nightcap for the Raiders was a decisive victory in which every active player earned playing time. SU hit .337 and served 10 aces in its first match against the Bobcats since 2010.
 
Gabriella Johnson led the Raiders with seven kills and no errors, swinging .500. Kendall Johnson had six kills and no errors, swinging .750. Webber added six more kills and hit .455.
 
Junior Alana Pergine had four kills and hit .429 during her time early in the match. Hangen saw time in the first two sets, finishing with 21 assists and three aces.
 
Redshirt-freshman Syera McCormick, who recorded a career-high 15 digs in the opener, filled multiple roles against the Bobcats. McCormick totaled 14 assists, six digs and two aces in the nightcap. Forstburg added a team-high 15 digs, giving her 31 over the course of Friday's matches.
 
Among the many contributors off the bench against West Virginia Wesleyan included freshman Kaitlyn Townsend (five kills, .143), sophomore Keri Gearhart (four kills, .571) and junior Jordan Skoff (three kills, .750, two block assists).
 
Shippensburg ventures over to Charleston for Saturday matches against Urbana and the host Golden Eagles.