The Shippensburg University volleyball team clinched a berth in the 2023 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament on Saturday, defeating Eastern Division rival Millersville in four sets at Pucillo Gymnasium. Set scores were 25-15, 25-18, 15-27 and 25-16.

Shippensburg (18-8, 9-1) had three players record 10 or more kills, including a dynamic effort from Gracen Nutt. The first-year Raider crunched a career-high 18 kills and had just two errors in 40 attempts – swinging .400. Nutt also served a career-high five aces – two more than her previous single-match best.
 
Freshman Hailey Cappleman continued her emergence with a career-high 11 kills and had just two errors on 23 attempts – swinging .391. Junior Kat Negron posted 10 kills and five digs and had a hand in three blocks.
 
Senior Kaitlyn Townsend had another efficient day in the middle, slamming seven kills to complement three block solos and three block assists. Townsend only had one error in 17 attempts, swinging .353. Combined with her historic performance Friday, Townsend finished the weekend with 20 kills, only one attack error, 11 blocks and an impressive .528 hitting percentage.
 
Sophomore Kearstin Davis racked up 42 assists, recorded 11 digs and served two aces. SU hit .288 as a team, committing just 12 attack errors, and five different players had six or more kills.
 
Sophomore libero Berkley Simmons keyed the defense with a team-high 20 digs, equaling her career high, while serving a season-high four aces that equals her career high.
 
Millersville (9-14, 3-7) had three players with 11 or more kills, including 16 from Alex Nava. The Marauders managed just three aces compared to 13 for the Raiders.
 
An efficient first set resulted in Shippensburg hitting .519 from the floor and committing only one attack error. A six-point service run by Nutt that included a pair of aces gave SU a 14-8 lead, and the Raiders continued to expand its leads en route to the 25-15 conclusions.
 
In the second set, the score was tied eight times, including at 15-15, until a Nutt kill preceded a six-point service run by Simmons that included a pair of aces and three more kills by Nutt.
 
The third set featured eight tie scores, and it appeared the Raiders were headed toward a sweep after gaining an 18-14 advantage. The Marauders countered with a 5-0 run to take a 19-18 lead and stretched it into an 8-2 run to lead 22-19. The Raiders responded with three straight points to even the score at 22-22 and earned a match point at 25-24, but the hosts countered with a block and a kill as part of a three-point run to claim the third set.
 
SU never trailed in the final set, with the only tie score occurring at 2-2. A 5-0 service run by Nutt that featured two more aces bumped the Raider lead to 11-5, and the Marauders would only get as close as five points the rest of the way.
 
Shippensburg returns to action at 6 p.m. Friday at Lock Haven.