The Shippensburg University volleyball team dropped a pair of neutral-site matches on Friday at a tournament hosted by Cal U., falling in five sets to West Liberty and in straight sets to Edinboro. Set scores against the Hilltoppers were 19-25, 25-13, 25-18, 20-25 and 5-15, while set scores against the Fighting Scots were 21-25, 20-25 and 24-26.
 
Freshman Emily Gardner led the Raiders on the day with 26 kills spanning the two matches. Gardner had 17 digs, four block assists and hit .182. Junior Rachel Verhoef totaled 21 kills.
 
Junior Oyinda Agbale had 20 kills and was the team's most efficient hitter, finishing the day with just three errors and a .347 hitting percentage. Freshman setter Lily Letchworth had 68 assists and 20 digs.
 
Shippensburg concludes its weekend with a 10 a.m. match Saturday against Frostburg at Cal U.

West Liberty 3, Shippensburg 2
 
In Friday's opener, Shippensburg won the second and third sets rather comfortably – establishing an 18-6 lead in the second set and an 8-1 lead in the third set. However, the Raiders could not stave off West Liberty in the fourth and fifth set. The Hilltoppers led by as many as nine points in the fourth set and raced out to an 8-3 advantage in the fifth set that proved insurmountable.
 
Three Raiders posted double-digit kills, with Gardner leading the way with 16 kills and a .205 hitting percentage. Agbale was incredibly efficient, totaling 13 kills and just one error to hit .500 from the floor. Verhoef had 13 kills. Gardner, Agbale and Verhoef each totaled two blocks.
 
Freshman Kat Negron slammed eight kills and hit .227, while freshman Chelsea Foulis had six kills and hit an efficient .294.
 
Letchworth had 45 assists, 10 digs and four kills. Redshirt-sophomore Alex Leitner and freshman Kelsie Baus combined for 25 digs from the back row. Negron and freshman Maddie Clabaugh each served two aces.
 
Edinboro 3, Shippensburg 0
 
Edinboro, who was playing in its first match of the season, used strong conclusions to each set to earn the victory. In the second set, the score was tied 20-20 before the Fighting Scots closed on a 5-0 run. The Raiders had a 21-17 lead in the third set before Edinboro rallied for the win.
 
Gardner finished with a team-high 10 kills, while Verhoef had eight. Baus led the team with 16 digs.