The Shippensburg University volleyball team came up short in four sets twice on Friday at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)/Mountain East Conference (MEC) crossover hosted by Wheeling, as the Raiders lost a neutral-site match to Fairmont State before losing to the Cardinals at the Alma Grace McDonough Center.
 
Shippensburg (1-8) has won at least one set in all nine of matches this season, and the Raiders finished the day with 112 kills compared to 114 for its opponents. SU hit just .177 from the floor compared to .258 by its opponents, however, as the Raiders finished with 17 more attack errors than the opposition.
 
Sophomore Kylie Snyder, who had played in just three sets this season entering Friday, finished the day by slamming 33 kills and hitting .316 in addition to three block assists.
 
Senior Emily Gardner had an excellent performance against Wheeling, and finished the day with 29 kills and tying with sophomore libero Shay Kolivoski for the team high in digs with 41. Sophomore Natalya Montague also had a noteworthy effort against Wheeling and finished the day hitting .419 with 17 kills.
 
Junior setter Kearstin Davis dished out 90 assists and had 25 digs; she also served three aces, bringing her career total to 100. Gardner and senior Kat Negron each served three aces.
 
Shippensburg remains in the Mountain State overnight and returns in action tomorrow at West Liberty, where it will face the host Hilltoppers at 11 a.m. before taking on West Virginia State for the second time this season at 3 p.m. All matches will be held at the ASRC; West Liberty will be charging cash-only admission.
 
Fairmont State 3, Shippensburg 1 (20-25, 25-19, 21-25, 21-25)
 
The first set opened with a pair of big scoring runs. After falling behind 3-0, the Raiders went on a 7-0 run and took a 7-3 to force a Fairmont State (8-2) timeout. A kill from sophomore Hailey Cappleman and a service ace from Negron extended the lead to 9-4. Fairmont State responded with a 9-2 scoring stretch to lead at 16-14. The Falcons maintained that lead through the rest of the set.
 
An early 4-0 second-set run off a kill from Snyder and three Falcon errors put the Raiders ahead, 6-2. Kills from junior Isabelle Bombas and Snyder helped extend the lead to 9-3. The Fighting Falcons tried to cut the deficit with a 4-0 run, but the Raiders responded with a 5-1 scoring stretch off a Gardner service ace, Bombas kill and three Falcon errors to lead 14-8. Fairmont State got within two points at 14-12. Back-to-back service aces from Davis, a Snyder kill, and two Falcon errors helped SU extend the lead to 20-12 with a 6-0 run. The Raiders closed the set with two kills from Gardner.
 
The third set proved to be a back-and-forth battle as neither team was able to pull away early. Snyder collected four kills early in the set to pace the SU offense. Fairmont State pulled away with a 9-1 scoring stretch to take an 18-10 lead. SU responded with a 5-0 run to close the deficit to 18-16. The Raiders were again within two at 23-21, but the Falcons claimed the set with the final two points.
 
The momentum stayed in Fairmont State's favor in the fourth set with an early 7-2 scoring stretch. The Raiders took advantage of three Falcon errors to cut the deficit to 13-9. SU came within one point at 17-16 after an ace from Negron, two kills from Gardner and a Bombas kill. A 6-2 scoring run allowed Fairmont State to reach match point, 24-19. The Raiders stopped two of the match points before the Fighting Falcons ended it.
 
SU hit .130, slamming 53 kills to 28 errors, while Fairmont hit .195 – slamming 52 kills compared to 19 errors. The Raiders had six aces to the Fighting Falcons' three, while Fairmont out-blocked SU, 10-5.
 
Snyder led the Raiders with a match-high 19 kills and a .444 hitting percentage. She had recorded 15 kills until committing her first attack error deep into the third set. Gardner had 12 kills and led the team with 25 digs but hit just .045 from the floor. Bombas had eight kills and hit .227, while Montague delivered six kills and hit .364. Davis dished out 40 assists.
 
Fairmont's Joey Borelle had a double-double with 16 kills and 15 digs while hitting .208. Chloe McDaniel had nine kills to just one error, totaled four block assists, and hit .364. Setters Kelsie Dangerfield and Belle DeVall combined for 41 assists. The back court was led by Josie Skinn with 23 digs.
 
Wheeling 3, Shippensburg 1 (25-22, 17-25, 16-25, 21-25)
 
The Raiders performed well in the bookend sets against the perennial regional power Wheeling, last year's No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Region. SU hit .250 in the first set while forcing the Cardinals into seven of their 13 errors in the match, and came back in the final frame to hit .421 (17 kills on just one error).
 
In between, Wheeling was especially lethal, crushing 30 kills on just four errors in the middle sets, while hitting .406 from the floor in that span.
 
Shippensburg opened the match with an incredible 9-0 run, with eight straight points coming off Davis's serve. Montague and Gardner each had two kills during the run. The Cardinals got within five points at 14-9, but the Raiders countered to lead 19-11 late in the set.
 
Wheeling never relented and got within one point at 23-22, capping off an 8-3 run. A Montague kill and a Cardinal attack error delivered the opening set to the Raiders.
 
The hosts used a 7-1 run to take an early 8-2 lead in the second set. The Raiders got within three points at 12-9 before the Cardinals scored nine of the next 13 points to lead 21-13. Wheeling scored four of the second set's final five points to even the match.
 
SU led 4-3 early in the third set before a massive 13-1 run defined the third set in Wheeling's favor. The Cardinals scored eight straight points to lead 16-5 in the frame.
 
A 5-0 Wheeling run started the fourth set. SU trailed 7-1 and clawed its way back to within two points at 10-8. The Raiders evened the set twice, at 11-11 and 12-12, and stayed within one point until a 4-0 WU run made it 19-14. SU got as close as 21-19 down the stretch.
 
Shippensburg had 59 kills and hit .235 – its best hitting percentage against Wheeling in its last 15 matchups with the Cardinals dating back to 2006. The hosts had 62 kills and hit an incredible .329 from the floor. Aces were close (7-5 Wheeling) as well as blocks (4-3 Wheeling).
 
Gardner slammed a season-high 17 kills (two short of her career high) and 16 digs for her second double-double of the day. She also hit an efficient .333 from the floor, committing just three attack errors. Snyder added 14 kills on six errors, swinging .200.
 
Montague crushed a career-high 11 kills against Wheeling and had only two attack errors to hit .450 from the floor. She also had a team-high three block assists. Cappleman added eight kills and hit .231.
 
Davis had a season-high 50 assists in addition to 12 digs and three kills. Kolivoski led the Raiders with 21 digs, while Negron added 14 digs.
 
Wheeling was paced by incredible performances from Riley Kindall and Katie Wilking, who combined for 35 kills on just three errors. Kindall slammed a match-high 20 kills, totaled 16 digs, contributed to four blocks, and hit .321. Wilking had 15 kills without an error, hitting .600. Olivia Batch was one kill short of a double-double (nine kills, 17 digs).