SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team put up their sixth five-set victory of the season Saturday by defeating Kutztown in a wild Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup on Saturday afternoon in Heiges Field House. Set scores were 25-19, 23-25, 25-20, 27-29 and 17-15.
 
Shippensburg (13-6, 5-0 PSAC East) ended the match with 63 kills and a .167 hitting percentage. Kutztown (8-9, 1-3 PSAC East) recorded 56 kills with a .112 hitting percentage. The Raiders out-blocked the Golden Bears ten to six. Both teams delivered 11 aces.
 
The Raider offense was led by Gracen Nutt who recorded a career-high 19 kills, hitting .163 from the floor. Nutt added a match high and career-high six aces and eight digs.
 
Elise Bragg delivered 15 kills with a .209 hitting percentage. Bragg tallied a career-high 27 digs and tacked on three block assists. Hailey Cappleman contributed 13 kills and hit .265 from the floor. Cappleman added a solo block and four block assists.
 
Kearstin Davis directed the SU offense with a season-high 49 assists, served up three aces and racked up 18 digs. Shay Kolivoski led the defense, tying her career high with 29 digs. She also had an ace and eight assists.
 
The Raiders saw their first lead in the first set after a 4-0 run made it 7-3. A kill from Nutt and three errors from the Golden Bears increased the SU lead, 12-8. Kutztown answered with a 2-0 run to cut the deficit to two, 15-13. SU answered with a 5-1 lead that included a pair of kills from Nutt, 22-16. Nutt notched an ace to put the Raiders at set point, 24-17. An error from Kutztown gave SU the first set, 25-19.
 
SU opened the second set with a 3-0 run. Bragg delivered a kill that sparked a 4-0 run and featured an ace from Kolivoski, 8-3. The Golden Bears answered with a 4-0 run. Bragg, Nutt and Cappleman each delivered a kill to increase the SU lead to 13-8. Kutztown responded with a 5-2 scoring stretch that cut the deficit to one, 15-14. A block from Natalya Montague and Clara Wildermuth put the Raiders ahead by three, 17-14. Kutztown completed a 5-0 run to take over the lead at 23-20. The SU deficit was cut to one after a KU error and a Nutt kill, 23-22. Kutztown ended the set with a 2-1 scoring stretch, 25-23.
 
Davis opened the third set with an ace that helped the Raiders complete a two-point run. Nutt delivered a kill and notched back-to-back aces to put SU in the lead, 5-3. The Raiders went on a 4-1 scoring stretch, 10-7. The Golden Bears answered with a 5-1 scoring stretch to take a one-point lead, 12-11. The Raiders answered with a 6-0 run that featured Davis's second ace of the set, 17-12. The Golden Bears cut the deficit to two after a 5-2 scoring stretch, 19-17. KU notched a kill and an ace to come within one, 21-20. Nutt and Cappleman delivered kills in a 4-0 run that closed set three in favor of the Raiders, 25-20.
 
The Raiders started the fourth set with a 5-1 scoring stretch. Kutztown answered with a 3-0 run to come within one, 5-4. Nutt notched a kill and an ace, 7-4. A kill from Kylie Snyder sparked a 4-0 Raider run, 12-7. The Golden Bears responded with a pair of kills and an ace, 12-10. Bombas recorded back-to-back kills to increase the SU lead to 15-10. A 7-1 scoring stretch from the Golden Bears gave them the lead, 17-16. Cappleman teamed up with Bragg and Snyder for a pair of blocks that put the Raiders back in the lead, 20-18. Kutztown completed a 4-1 scoring stretch to tie the set at 23. Bragg recorded a kill that put the Raiders at match point, 24-23. Kutztown responded with a 2-0 run to create a KU set point, 25-24. Nutt notched a pair of kills to give the Raiders back match point, 26-25. The Golden Bears ended the set with a 4-1 scoring stretch that forced a fifth set, 29-27.
 
There were 10 ties and six lead changes in the fourth set.
 
The teams traded one-point leads in the beginning of the fifth set until Kutztown completed a 3-0 run to lead 8-6. The Raiders responded with a 5-0 run that featured a trio of kills from Cappleman and gave them the lead, 12-10. Kutztown was quick to respond with a 3-0 run and re-gained the lead 13-12. After a kill from Cappleman and an error from KU, the Raiders had match point, 14-13. An error from SU tied the set at 14-14.
 
Bragg delivered a kill to give SU a second match point, but Kutztown had a response and tied the set at 15-15. A block from Isabelle Bombas and Snyder put the Raiders at their third match point, 16-15. An error from the Golden Bears gave the victory to the Raiders, 17-15. The Raiders hit .273 in the fifth set, recording 11 kills.
 
The fifth set featured 11 ties and seven lead changes between the two teams.
 
Kutztown was led by Paige Skinner who recorded a match-high 25 kills with a .163 hitting percentage. Skinner added two aces, 10 digs and a block assists. Emma Baldridge handed out 46 assists and tacked on two aces, 11 digs and a block assist. Saige Thibodeaux led the defense with a match-high 33 digs and added two aces and three assists.
 
Shippensburg will travel to West Chester on Friday to take on the Golden Rams in a PSAC Eastern Division matchup at 6 p.m.