The Shippensburg University volleyball team won two matches on the final day of the Bobcat Invitational, defeating Pittsburgh-Johnstown in four sets and host Frostburg State in five sets.
 
Shippensburg (5-2) ended the day with 105 kills, hitting .192 from the floor. Hailey Cappleman, Gracen Nutt and Kayla Johnson contributed 65 of those kills.
 
Cappleman led the Raiders with 23 kills, hitting .385 on the day. She added three aces, eight digs and seven block assists. During the three matches this weekend, Cappleman hit .282 from the floor, tallying 33 kills, while only committing nine attack errors on 85 swings.
 
Nutt contributed 22 kills and five digs. Johnson added 20 kills for the Raiders with a .206 hitting percentage. She tacked on three aces and 24 digs in the two matches.
 
Kearstin Davis and Jaiden Anderson split the setting duties during the two matches, as the Raiders employed a 6-2 rotation. Davis handed out 44 assists and added an ace and 15 digs. Anderson dished out 40 assists, three aces and tallied 17 digs.
 
Shay Kolivoski led the SU defense with 40 total digs and six aces between the two matches.
 
Cappleman and Isabelle Bombas (25 kills, team-high 11 blocks, .238) were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Bobcat Invitational
 
Shippensburg returns to action next weekend at the PSAC/MEC Crossover, where it will first take on Wheeling at 3:30 p.m. on Friday followed by Fairmont State at 6:30 p.m.
 
Shippensburg 3, Pitt-Johnstown 1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-21)
 
Davis opened set one by recording the first of SU's 21 aces on the day. Pitt-Johnstown, an NCAA Tournament team last season, completed a 5-1 scoring stretch, 6-2. The Mountain Cats increased their lead to six after a 3-0 run, 11-5. Kolivoski delivered two aces to cut the SU deficit to three, 11-8. The Raiders completed a 6-1 scoring stretch that featured kills from Bombas and Kylie Snyder, 20-19. The Mountain Cats closed set one with a 4-0 run, 25-20.
 
Set two started as a back and forth between the two teams, until SU went on a 4-0 run that included a pair of kills from Johnson, 9-5. The Mountain Cats responded back with a 4-0 run of their own to tie the set, 11-11. A kill from Nutt and an attack error from the Mountain Cats put SU up by two, 13-11. A pair of kills from Natalya Montague sparked a 4-0 run to increase the lead, 18-13. The Raiders ended set two on a 4-0 run, 25-17.
 
The Mountain Cats opened set three with a 5-1 scoring stretch, 6-4. The Raiders answered with a huge 9-1 scoring stretch that featured three aces from Cappleman, 15-8. A 4-0 run from UPJ cut the deficit to three, 15-12. An ace from Anderson and kills from Bombas and Montague increased the Raider lead, 18-12. Johnson and Snyder delivered kills to put the Raiders on a 3-0 run, 21-14. A kill from Nutt put SU at match point, 24-18. UPJ held SU at set point for two points until Cappleman delivered the final kill to close the set, 25-20.
 
The Raiders carried the momentum in set four with a 5-0 run that featured three aces from Johnson, 5-0. The Mountain Cats got within one, 7-6. A Mountain Cat error and an ace from Anderson put SU ahead by four, 13-9. Three kills from Johnson and an UPJ error increased the SU lead, 22-16. Bombas delivered a kill to give the Raiders match point, 24-20. Bombas gave the Raiders the win with her 10th kill of the match, 25-21.
 
Johnson led the Raider offense with 11 kills, hitting .409 from the floor, only committing two errors on 22 swings. She added three aces and seven digs.
 
Operating under a 6-2 rotation, Anderson dished out 24 assists, two aces and 10 digs. Davis added 18 assists, an ace and nine digs. Kolivoski led the Raiders defensively with 18 digs and two aces.
 
Shippensburg recorded a season-high 13 aces, with six different Raiders adding at least one ace. SU delivered 52 kills with a .234 hitting percentage.
 
Pitt-Johnstown recorded 47 kills, hitting .216 from the floor. Ellie Zuro Cirino led the Mountain Cat offense with 22 kills, hitting .413 from the floor, only committing three errors on 46 swings.
 
Shippensburg 3, Frostburg State 2 (25-23, 25-11, 22-25, 13-25, 15-8)
 
Frostburg State opened set one with a 5-0 run. The Raiders tied the set after a 5-0 run of their own, 8-8. The teams tied 10 times before SU was able to pull away with a two-point lead, 22-20. A 3-0 run from the Bobcats gave them the late lead, 23-22. A kill from Nutt sparked a late 3-0 run from the Raiders to give them the set one win, 25-23.
 
A pair of kills from Nutt and an ace from Kolivoski gave the Raiders the early lead in set two, 5-3. Cappleman added a pair of kills to increase the lead to four, 8-4. Berkley Simmons delivered back-to-back aces that contributed to a 6-0 run, 15-6. The Raiders closed set two on a 6-2 scoring stretch, 25-11.
 
The Raiders pulled ahead early in set three with a 3-0 run that started with a kill from Nutt, 7-4. A Johnson kill and a Bobcat error put SU up by three, 10-7. The Bobcats responded with a 5-0 run that gave them the lead, 12-10. A 4-0 run from the Bobcats forced a Raider timeout, 16-11. The Raiders cut the deficit to two, 16-14. A 5-1 scoring stretch put the Raiders back in the lead, 21-19. The Bobcats answered with a 6-1 scoring stretch to force a set four, 25-22.
 
The Bobcats carried the momentum to set four as they got an early lead with a 6-2 scoring stretch, 8-4. Frostburg State completed a 9-0 scoring run to increase their lead, 16-5. The deficit was too large for the Raiders and the Bobcats forced a fifth set, 25-13.
 
Frostburg opened set five with a 4-0 run to take an early lead. Back-to-back blocks from the Raiders cut the deficit to two, 4-2. A pair of kills from Cappleman and one from Nutt tied the set, 6-6. A 2-0 run gave the Bobcats the lead back, but Nutt ended the run with a kill to tie the set again at 8-8. Cappleman and Montague teamed up for a block followed by a Cappleman kill to give the Raiders the lead, 10-8. The momentum continued as SU increased their lead by four, 12-8. A pair of kills by Cappleman put the Raiders at set point, 14-8. The Raiders closed the set with a block from Cappleman and a Montague block, 15-8.
 
The Raider offense was led by Cappleman, who delivered a career-high 18 kills with a .529 hitting percentage. She committed no errors on 34 swings. Nutt added 13 kills, hitting .162 from the floor.
 
Davis had a team-high 26 assists and added six digs. Kolivoski paced the Raiders from the back court with 22 digs and tacked on a team-high four aces.
 
Shippensburg ended the match with 53 kills, hitting .159 from the floor. The Raiders delivered eight aces to the Bobcats seven.
 
SU avenged losses to the Mountain Cats and the Bobcats last year with Saturday victories.
    Photos courtesy of Frostburg State Sports Information