The Shippensburg University volleyball team won its morning match in a five-set thriller against Daemen, but struggled against Clarion, losing 3-0 to the home team on the second day of the Tony Banner Memorial Volleyball Tournament.
 
Set scores against Daemen were 25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 12-25, and 15-13. Set scores against Clarion were 18-25, 11-25, and 15-25.
 
Shippensburg (1-2) generated 72 total kills over the course of the day, with junior Emily Gardner pacing the team with 21 kills and five blocks overall.
 
Shippensburg 3, Daemen 2
 
Gardner led the effort by sharing a team-high 14 kills with freshman Gracen Nutt, in addition to contributing 13 digs, three blocks, and an efficient .323 hitting percentage.
 
Sophomore Kearstin Davis paced the team with 46 assists and eight digs, while freshmen libero Shay Kolivoski added 20 digs.
 
The first set of the match was evenly matched as the teams shared multiple ties and lead changes, but SU eventually came out on top with a slight 12-11 kill advantage. Nutt led the set with five kills and no errors.
 
Shippensburg remained competitive in the second set and put together a 5-0 run that resulted in a 15-14 lead, but a quick 7-1 run from Daemen quickly shifted the momentum back in their favor. Then up 21-16, the Wildcats controlled the rest of the set.
 
Despite going down 5-2 to start the third, SU rebounded with eight consecutive points to assert a 10-5 lead. From that point, the Raiders did not give up another lead change and handily secured the set. Three different players—Gardner, Nutt, and junior Maddie Clabaugh—each had at least three kills in the set.
 
After a forgettable fourth set for the Raiders, in which Daemen won by a commanding 13 points, the match entered a fifth and final set. Three kills and a service ace brought SU to a quick 4-1 lead, but the Wildcats soon pulled themselves back to even at 4-4. From there, Shippensburg capitalized on consecutive Daemen attack errors to initiate an extended 8-2 run. Although the Wildcats saved three match points, a kill from Nutt proved to be the final blow as SU took the decider, 15-13.
 
Clarion 3, Shippensburg 0
 
Gardner led the team in kills once again with seven in the second match of the day. Freshman Hailey Cappleman contributed a team-high three blocks.
 
SU was overpowered offensively as Clarion more than doubled them in kills, 44-to-21. Double-digit kills in each set and a .386 hitting percentage from the Golden Eagles barred the Raiders from gaining any momentum throughout the match.
 
SU will play its final match of the tournament against Lake Erie at 12 p.m. tomorrow.

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