SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team won its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division opener in a thrilling Friday night matchup against Shepherd, 3-1, at Heiges Field House. Set scores were 25-14, 21-25, 25-10 and 27-25.
 
Shippensburg (7-7, 1-0 PSAC East) was led by sophomores Kat Negron and Maddie Clabaugh and senior Oyinda Agbale; the trio combined for 42 kills. Negron led the team with a season-high 16 kills and only had two errors for a career-high hitting percentage of .483. Clabaugh had 15 kills and two blocks, while Agbale had 11 kills and led the team with five blocks.
 
Freshman libero Erica Lampus had 24 digs, while freshman setter Kearstin Davis led the team with 45 assists and three aces, including an ace on match point. She added 16 digs. Redshirt-senior Alex Leitner also was strong on the defensive end with nine digs, two assists and two aces.
 
The Raiders had to battle early in the first set, with the set tied at 6-6. SU went on an 8-3 run to take a 14-9 lead. Shepherd (8-5) tried to rally back late in the set, but the Raiders held strong and went on a 6-0 run to win the set, sealing it on a solo block from senior Kaitlyn Townsend.
 
The second set was a different story, Shepherd took a 7-3 lead and had its best hitting percentage of the match, swinging .333 with 15 kills. However, the Raiders crawled back into the second set and went on a 6-2 run to close the gap, 22-20. The Rams ended on top with kills from Joi Fairweather and Mikaylah Hoy.
 
SU took an 8-0 run at the start of third set and did not let Shepherd come back into the set. The Raiders limited the Rams to only three kills in the set. Negron had seven kills herself and Agbale had five kills.
 
In the fourth set, SU took a 10-7 lead, but the Rams came back with a 10-1 run to take a 17-11 lead. A timeout taken by Coach Piscotty helped the Raiders to rally and take a one-point lead, 20-19. The set tied up at 24-24, a block assist from Agbale and Clabaugh gave the Raiders their first match point, but it was tied up again at 25-25. A kill from Clabaugh set up the second Raider match point, and an ace from Davis sealed the deal.
 
Shepherd was led by Mikaylah Hoy with 13 kills.
 
Shippensburg will be back in action at 7 p.m. Friday against Kutztown at Heiges Field House.