The Shippensburg University volleyball team dropped its opening match in a hard-fought 3-1 loss to Saginaw Valley State at the Tony Banner Memorial Volleyball Tournament hosted by Clarion University. Set scores were 21-25, 25-22, 22-25, and 24-26.
Shippensburg (0-1) was led by junior
Maddie Clabaugh, who had 12 kills and one block assist. Sophomore
Kearstin Davis contributed 34 assists and 13 digs from the setter's spot, in addition to serving three of the team's six service aces.
A freshmen trio of
Hailey Cappleman,
Gracen Nutt, and
Shay Kolivoski had an impressive showing in their collegiate debut. Cappleman and Nutt both finished with hitting percentages over .300, while Kolivoski nailed a service ace to clinch the second set.
Saginaw (1-0) had a hitting percentage of .175 and was led by Sedona Coon's 15 kills. SU struggled to keep up with the Cardinals at the net and was out-blocked 12-to-4.
It was a contentious first set as Shippensburg and Saginaw went back and forth, neither team trailing by more than three points throughout its entirety. The Raiders pulled within one point at 22-21, but two kills and an SU attack error sealed the opening set for the Cardinals.
SU fought back in the second set, building up their largest lead of the night so far at 19-14. However, Saginaw remained within striking distance and slowly brought the scoreline back to an even 20-20. From there, the two sides exchanged points until a kill by Nutt created a set point for the Raiders; Kolivoski finished the set with a service ace.
Saginaw took a 5-4 lead early in the third set and never looked back. SU brought itself within one point on multiple occasions but could not manage to erase the deficit.
The fourth set started strong for the Raiders as they put together a quick 7-1 lead, but a string of errors shifted momentum back in Saginaw's favor. Down by as much as 23-13 after allowing a 12-2 run, SU clawed its way back to a 24-24 tie thanks to a series of kills from Clabaugh, Cappleman, and senior
Jackie Sterenberg, but it was not enough to stop the Cardinals from securing the final two points of the match.
Shippensburg continues with two more matches tomorrow at the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament, first against Daemen at 11 a.m. and later against host Clarion at 7 p.m.
