SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team swept East Stroudsburg on Friday night, claiming victory in a matchup of the Top 2 teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings. Set scores were 25-23, 25-16 and 25-23.

Shippensburg (21-8, 12-1) sustained its only conference loss of the year earlier this season at East Stroudsburg (20-6, 12-1) in a five-set thriller at Koehler Fieldhouse. By virtue of its victory Friday night occurring in less than five sets, SU now holds the tiebreaker over ESU with one conference match remaining.     
 
Sophomore setter Kearstin Davis directed the offense to a .206 hitting percentage, marking only the fourth time all season that the Warriors had an opposing team hit .200 or better against them. Davis had 36 assists, five digs, and four kills without an error.
 
Freshman Gracen Nutt posted a team-high 11 kills and hit .194, while junior Maddie Clabaugh had eight kills, 12 digs and two of SU's seven aces.
 
Junior Kat Negron had 10 kills and two aces, while freshman Hailey Cappleman had five kills and three blocks. Senior Kaitlyn Townsend had nine kills and hit .286.
 
Junior Emily Gardner transitioned back to libero once again and tied for the team high with 17 digs. She also had five assists. Sophomore Berkley Simmons equaled Gardner with 17 digs and served two aces. Senior Jackie Sterenberg was also extremely integral to the success of the back row, contributing nine digs.
 
The Raiders posted a hitting percentage of .171 in the first frame with 12 kills, three aces and three blocks. Negron led the Raiders with four kills in the frame and Cappleman contributed to three blocks in the set. An ace from Davis and a kill by Negron gave Shippensburg high energy to start the match. The Raiders maintained their one-to-two-point advantage for most of the set with their largest advantage coming at 20-15 after a 4-0 scoring run. East Stroudsburg responded quickly to level the score at 21-21 before a kill and an ace from Negron and a kill by Clabaugh polished off the first set.
 
SU continued its momentum into the second set. ESU took the first point, but two kills and a block gave the Raiders the advantage back. Clabaugh continued to be a force with a 4-0 service run that included two aces and a kill of her own for an 8-4 advantage. Only one Warrior point stood between another 4-0 Raider run by Simmons.  
 
Relentless attack gave Shippensburg a 19-13 lead before ESU turned a corner with a three-point scoring run to make it 19-16. Simmons helped close out the set in style with a six-point service run to close out the set that included both of her aces along with kills from Nutt and Cappleman.  
 
Shippensburg continued to dominate in the third set with a 3-0 service run from Davis with kills from Clabaugh and Townsend. The Raiders stretched their lead to 14-7 before the Warriors turned the set around to ultimately tie the score at 15-15. Both teams continued to trade points back and forth until the score reached 23-23 – the eighth tie of the set. Cappleman smashed home a kill to put the Raiders at match point, and a ball-handling rror by the Warriors finished off the fantastic performance by the Raiders.
 
For the Raiders, the victory snaps a two-match losing skid to the Warriors that includes a straight-set home defeat in last year's PSAC Quarterfinals. It was just the second time in the last five meetings that the matchup did not require five sets.
 
SU is back in action at 1 p.m. tomorrow and will celebrate Senior Day before its final match of the regular season, a conference clash against Kutztown at Heiges Field House.