The Shippensburg University volleyball team charged to victory on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 win at West Chester in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup at Hollinger Field House. Set scores were 25-20, 25-22 and 26-24.
Shippensburg (9-9, 3-2 PSAC East) were led by senior
Oyinda Agbale (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area) and sophomore
Kat Negron (Longwood, Fla./Lyman) who combined for 22 kills. Negron had 13 kills with one error and had a .444 percentage, while Agbale had nine kills and two block assists. Sophomore
Kelsie Baus (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) had a career high of five service aces.
Seniors
Jackie Sterenberg (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial (Frostburg State) and
Rachel Verhoef (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) had a combined 11 kills. Sterenberg added four assists, seven digs and three service aces. Freshman setter
Kearstin Davis (San Antonio, Tex./Reagan) had 29 assists and five digs, while freshman libero
Erica Lampus (Sarver, Pa./Freeport) had nine digs and tied her career-high with four aces.
West Chester (13-4, 3-2) had the better hitting percentage with .211 but it was the Raiders' 13 service aces that helped dominate the Golden Rams.
In the first set, the Raiders had a 4-1 lead but the Golden Rams went on a 10-2 run to take the lead. An 11-2 run gave the Raiders a five-point lead and a kill from senior
Jordan Bowen (Omaha, Neb./Omaha Westside (Limestone)) secured the set.
SU had an 8-0 run and never trailed in the set but did allow WCU to tie the set five times. Negron had seven kills on 13 attacks, and one error. A kill from Agbale set up Lampus for a service ace and the second-set victory.
In the third set, Shippensburg had a 16-8 lead but allowed West Chester to get back into the game and tie the set 19-19. With the set tied at 24-24, back-to-back kills from Agbale gave the Raiders the victory.
Shippensburg travels to Pitt-Johnstown at 7 p.m. Tuesday for a non-conference matchup.