The Shippensburg University volleyball team went toe-to-toe with rival East Stroudsburg on Friday night but came up just short, dropping a five-set Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup to the Warriors at Koehler Fieldhouse. Set scores were 16-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-19 and 12-15.
 
Shippensburg (12-6, 3-1 PSAC East) served 15 aces, one short of its season high and seven more than any opponent had achieved against East Stroudsburg (11-5, 4-0). SU also matched its season high with 60 kills and recorded seven blocks but could not overcome a season-high 38 attack errors and hit just .108 from the floor.
 
The back-and-forth battle featured 24 tie scores and 11 lead changes – with multiple lead changes in each of the final four sets. The first set was dominated by the hosts, as ESU led by as many as 14 points in the opening frame.
 
SU hung closer to the Warriors in the second set, racing out to a 6-2 lead to get started but ultimately trailing for most of the frame. The Raiders got back in the match by staving off three consecutive set points. A kill by sophomore Isabelle Bombas prefaced the start of a service run by junior Kat Negron – back-to-back ESU attack errors evened the score, and then back-to-back aces by Negron gave the Raiders the set, 26-24.
 
The third and fourth sets featured some significant point swings. In the third, Shippensburg led 9-5 before East Stroudsburg evened the score at 11-11. Then, SU scored five straight points to lead 16-11. ESU then scored seven of the next eight points to take an 18-17 lead. The Raiders regained the lead twice, including a 20-19 advantage, before the Warriors scored six of the final eight points to take the third set.
 
The fourth set was filled with large scoring runs. SU went on a 9-1 run to take a 12-5 lead. ESU immediately countered with an 8-1 run to even the score at 13-13. At 14-14, Shippensburg embarked on an 8-1 run to lead 22-15, which proved too much for East Stroudsburg to overcome.
 
After falling behind 5-2 in the fifth set, Shippensburg scored six straight points to lead 8-5. SU led 9-6 before the hosts flipped the script, first scoring three straight points to make the score 9-9. The Raiders then got two points to lead 11-9, but a 5-0 counter by ESU was the difference. SU fought off one set point before the Warriors emerged victorious.
 
Junior Maddie Clabaugh and freshman Gracen Nutt each paced the Raiders offensively with 14 kills and finished with double-doubles.
 
Clabaugh had 10 digs and two blocks and hit .150 from the floor to record her second straight double-double and third of the season. Nutt posted double-digit digs for the first time in her career, upping her career high to 17 with her first collegiate double-double. She hit .132 from the floor.
 
Bombas posted double-digit kills for the first time in her career, finishing with 10 while hitting .208. She had two solo blocks. Senior Kaitlyn Townsend had three solo blocks – a career high – and had eight kills while hitting .143.
 
Junior Emily Gardner had eight kills and eight digs, while sophomore Kayla Johnson equaled her career high of four kills during the first two sets.
 
Sophomore Kearstin Davis distributed the ball to the tune of a season-high 52 assists – just five short of her career high. It was Davis's second 50-assist match of the season and the sixth of her career. Davis also added two kills without an error and had five digs.
 
Freshman libero Shay Kolivoski led the Raiders with 19 digs and equaled her career high with a match-high five service aces. Negron finished with four aces, while sophomore Berkley Simmons had three in addition to six digs.
 
East Stroudsburg was paced by Anna Coulter, who ripped a match-high 18 kills and hit an impressive .448 from the floor. Coulter also had three block assists. Libero Makayla Baca had a match-high 29 digs and setter Taylor Haan had 38 assists, 13 digs and seven kills while hitting .316 on 19 attempts.

It was the third consecutive regular-season match between the two teams that went five sets. SU won both regular-season matches last year, including a 15-13 fifth set at home and a 15-12 fifth set on the road. ESU, however, now has a two-game winning streak in the series that includes last year's straight-set win in the PSAC Quarterfinals.
 
Shippensburg will face Kutztown at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Keystone Arena.