The Shippensburg University volleyball team finished the Tony Banner Memorial Volleyball Tournament on a high note after sweeping Lake Erie in straight sets on Saturday afternoon. Set scores were 25-17, 25-16, and 26-24.
Â
Sophomore
Kearstin Davis had a hallmark night for Shippensburg (2-2) as her 23 assists put her over the 1,000 career assists mark. She also served a career high of seven aces and added five digs.
Â
Offensively, the Raiders were led by juniors
Maddie Clabaugh and
Emily Gardner who combined for 18 kills. Clabaugh had nine kills and a .438 hitting percentage, while Gardner contributed the other nine kills.
Â
At the close of the weekend, Davis and Clabaugh were named to the All-Tournament team.
Â
Lake Erie (0-4) had an advantage at the net with 10 blocks to SU's four, but 10 service aces from the Raiders led to a secure sweep of the Storm.
Â
Shippensburg opened the first set with a strong push to take an early 9-2 lead. From there, the Raiders kept their lead safe and never allowed the Storm to come back within three points. The final point was secured by senior
Kaitlyn Townsend who joined a company of four other Raiders that also recorded multiple kills within the set.
Â
The Raiders were challenged by the Storm at the beginning of the first set as both sides exchanged points before knotting up at 7-7. But a following 8-1 run from SU, that contained two service aces from Davis, resulted in a 7-point advantage that would hold through the rest of the set.
Â
In the third set, Shippensburg found itself in a difficult spot despite its initial 14-8 lead. Several attack and service errors gave Lake Erie the space to go on a 10-1 run and create one of their only leads of the night. Down 23-21, the Raiders recaptured their momentum thanks to a kill from Gardner and a final service ace from Davis; sophomore
Isabelle Bombas had the honor of smashing the final kill to win the match.
Â
SU returns this Thursday at 7 p.m. when they travel to North Carolina to face host team Chowan at the Chowan Tournament.
