The Shippensburg University volleyball team secured a 3-1 win at Bloomsburg on Friday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division showdown at Nelson Field House that resulted in Leanne Piscotty achieving her 400th career victory as head coach of the Raiders. Set scores were 25-20, 17-25, 25-21 and 25-18.
 
With Friday's win, Piscotty becomes the fourth coach to achieve 400 career wins at a PSAC school, joining Slippery Rock's Laurie Lokash (659), Lock Haven's Tom Justice (485) and Kutztown's John Gump (401).  
 
Piscotty, in her 19th season as the Raider head coach, has compiled a career record of 400-239. The winningest coach in school history, Piscotty has now led the Raiders to 15 or more wins in 17 of her 18 seasons at SU in which matches were played (no games were played in 2020 due to the pandemic).
 
Shippensburg (15-11, 7-4 PSAC East) slammed 62 kills, its most this season in a non-five-set match, but Bloomsburg (5-19, 3-8) countered with 13 blocks – the fourth-most in a non-five-set match in the league this season.
 
The first set was tied 17-17 until a 5-0 run helped give the Raiders the edge to take the frame, 25-20. The Huskies used runs of 6-2 and 5-1 midway through the second set to claim a 25-17 edge and even the match at 1-1. BU had five blocks and four aces in the second set to gain separation from the Raiders.
 
SU began to assert itself defensively and improved its passing as the match went on. With the third set tied 20-20, a 4-0 Raider run proved the turning point, and a thunderous kill from senior Rachel Verhoef closed the frame 25-21 in SU's favor.
 
A wild fourth set featured a 7-0 Raider run to open the set, but the Huskies immediately countered with an 8-2 run to get within a point. The fourth set was tied 13-13 when Shippensburg unleashed a 6-0 run that proved too insurmountable for the Huskies. A kill by senior Kaitlyn Townsend cemented the match in SU's favor.
 
Sophomore Kat Negron slammed 15 kills and had nine digs to finish one dig shy of a double-double. She also served two aces. Senior Oyinda Agbale had 13 kills, three blocks and hit .308. Verhoef added eight kills and three blocks.
 
Freshman setter Kearstin Davis had another outstanding effort with 52 assists, 14 digs, and a career-high four service aces. It was the second straight match that Davis eclipsed 50 assists and the third time in the team's last five matches she has done so. She also has recorded double-digit digs in three straight matches and six of the last eight overall.
 
Townsend, who came off the bench, provided efficiency on the attack with nine kills to just two errors and a .438 hitting percentage. Sophomores Emily Gardner and Maddie Clabaugh each contributed seven kills.
 
Defensively, freshman libero Erica Lampus had a team-high 21 digs, marking her seventh match of the season with 20 or more digs, while redshirt-senior Alex Leitner  had 12 digs.
 
With three conference matches remaining in the regular season, Shippensburg is currently tied for second place in the Eastern Division with West Chester, who defeated East Stroudsburg in five sets on Friday night. The Warriors and Kutztown are just one game behind the Raiders and the Golden Rams, and Millersville is only two games out in a packed divisional race.

Shippensburg completes a six-match road swing at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Lock Haven.
 
Note: Piscotty becomes the fourth coach currently active in the PSAC to achieve 400 career coaching victories overall, joining Seton Hill's Rick Hall (773; Seton Hill joined the PSAC in 2013), Lokash, and Edinboro's Missy Soboleski (505 spanning Edinboro, Mercyhurst and Gannon).

 

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