SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team notched its sixth Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division victory of the season on Saturday by defeating Millersville in four sets at Heiges Field House. Set scores were 25-11, 25-18, 18-25, 25-19.
 
Following its most efficient performance of the season last night, Shippensburg (15-6, 6-1 PSAC) continued to impress from the floor, swinging .298 for 54 kills and just 12 errors. It was also a double-digit night for the Raiders in aces and blocks as they totaled 11 in each category. Millersville (7-12, 1-6 PSAC) hit a competitive .214 from the floor and compiled 47 kills, including 30 in the final two sets compared to just four errors in that span.
 
Senior Kaitlyn Townsend highlighted SU's offense, smashing a season-high 14 kills while committing zero attack errors to go .636 from the floor; she also contributed two blocks. Junior Kat Negron reached double-digit kills for the second night in a row with 12 on the afternoon, also hitting .267 and serving three aces. Freshman Gracen Nutt rounded out the attack with 10 kills.
 
Sophomore Kearstin Davis gave an all-around performance of 39 assists, three aces, two kills and six digs. Stepping into the libero role for the second straight match, junior Emily Gardner totaled a career-high 22 digs to go along with six assists and two service aces.
 
Junior Maddie Clabaugh also contributed on the offensive end with nine kills to just one error, hitting .308. Clabaugh added six digs, an ace and two block assists.
 
SU was aggressive at the net once again as five different Raiders contributed to at least two blocks.
 
The Raiders zoomed through the first set, racing out to a 5-1 lead that necessitated a quick Marauder timeout. SU led 9-2 and 13-3, with the Marauders swinging in the negative in the opening set (six kills, seven errors) and never getting within nine points of the lead in the opening frame.
 
Shippensburg also raced out to a 5-1 lead in the second set. The Ville would get within two, at 8-6, before an 8-2 Raider run stretched the advantage. The second set was SU's most efficient, as the team hit .389 from the floor and had 17 kills to just three errors.
 
Millersville hit .347 over the final two sets, including .353 in the third, to get back into the match. The Marauders led 3-1 and 7-4 early before the Raiders evened the score at 8-8. With the score 10-10, MU went on a 10-2 run that proved to be insurmountable.
 
The visitors crunched 14 kills without an error in the fourth set but never led in the final frame, as SU started out yet again on a 5-1 run and stretched its lead out to 12-5. The Marauders trailed 19-12 and rallied to get within two at 20-18, but a 5-1 run to the finish was the difference for SU. Clabaugh and Nutt each had two kills before senior Jackie Sterenberg clinched the win with her lone kill of the match.
 
Shippensburg hits the road again on Tuesday to play Frostburg State at 7 p.m.