SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team completed the season-opening Raider Classic on Saturday with two victories, beginning the day with a sweep of Roberts Wesleyan (25-18, 25-15, 25-14) before squeaking out a five-set win in a riveting affair with Walsh (25-22, 25-21, 25-27, 22-25, 15-13) in non-conference action from Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg (3-0) hit .202 and served 20 aces over the course of Saturday's matches to complete the weekend with an unblemished record. The nightcap against a strong and resilient Walsh squad featured 41 ties and 16 lead changes, with the Cavaliers nearly completing a comeback after dropping the first two sets to the Raiders.
 
Senior Samantha Webber clinched the win over Walsh with her 25th and final kill, marking a new single-match career high. It was Webber's third career match with 20 or more kills. Webber hit .385 against the Cavaliers despite a team-high 52 swings, and also recorded three blocks. For the weekend, Webber hit .443 with 46 kills over the course of 88 attempts.
 
The nightcap also featured 46 assists and 16 digs from junior Emily Hangen, and 10 kills and a team-high 24 digs from senior Gabriella Johnson. Redshirt-freshman Syera McCormick finished with a match-high five aces, giving her nine over the course of the season's first three matches, but also served eight of SU's 18 service errors in the match.
 
Senior Kendall Johnson finished with six blocks against Walsh; she began the day with eight kills and a .429 percentage against Roberts Wesleyan. Webber had 11 kills against the Redhawks, while Gabriella Johnson had nine kills and 13 digs.
 
Freshman Kaitlyn Townsend once again impressed off the bench, producing six kills, zero errors, a .316 hitting percentage and three block assists in the five-set win over Walsh. Overall on Saturday, Townsend slammed 12 kills without an attack error. Her season-opening weekend featured 17 kills, eight blocks and a .341 hitting percentage.
 
Shippensburg travels to West Virginia State and Charleston next weekend for the first of two PSAC/MEC crossover tournaments.