The Shippensburg University volleyball team dropped a pair of contests on the first day of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)/Mountain East Conference (MEC) Crossover, first falling on Friday to host Wheeling in three sets before losing to Fairmont State in three sets.  
 
Shippensburg (5-4) ended the day with 74 kills, hitting .132 from the floor. Gracen Nutt led the Raiders with 20 kills, hitting .206 on the day. Kylie Snyder tallied 11 kills and added two solo blocks and four block assists.
 
Kearstin Davis and Jaiden Anderson split the setting duties during the two matches, employing a 6-2 rotation. Davis handed out 37 assists and added an ace and 12 digs. Anderson dished out 23 assists, an ace and tallied 12 digs.
 
Shay Kolivoski led the SU defense with 38 total digs and four aces between the two matches. Kolivoski has delivered at least one ace in four straight matches.
 
Shippensburg returns to action tomorrow at the PSAC/MEC Crossover, where it will first take on host West Liberty at 11 a.m. on Saturday followed by West Virginia State at 4 p.m.
 
Wheeling 3, Shippensburg 0 (22-25, 18-25, 25-27)
 
Set one started with the teams trading leads until the Raiders pulled ahead with a 4-0 run, 10-6. The Cardinals responded with a 4-1 scoring stretch to tie it 14-14. Wheeling pulled away with the lead after a 4-0 run, 18-15. A kill by Natalya Montague sparked a 3-0 run for SU, 18-18. The Cardinals ended set one with a 4-2 scoring stretch, 25-22.
 
Set two started with an early lead for the Raiders after kills from Isabelle Bombas and Snyder, 4-2. An ace from Anderson and a Cardinal error increased the lead to four, 7-3. Wheeling answered with a 4-0 run of its own to tie the set, 7-7. A 7-2 scoring stretch increased the Cardinal lead, 14-10. A 6-2 run from the Cardinals increased the lead to six, 21-15. The Raiders came within four at 18-22, but the deficit was too large, and Wheeling took set two, 25-18.
 
The Cardinals opened set three with a 6-3 scoring stretch. A kill from Kayla Johnson started a 3-0 run to give the Raiders a 9-8 lead. A pair of kills from Nutt and a kill from Snyder increased the SU lead to three, 14-11. SU completed a 4-0 run that featured a pair of kills from Elise Bragg to increase the lead, 19-15. With the Raiders four points away, the Cardinals answered with a 5-1 scoring stretch to cut the deficit to one, 22-21. A kill from Nutt put the Raiders at set point, 24-22. Two straight points from the Cardinals tied the set, 24-24. The Raiders arrived at set point again after a block from Hailey Cappleman and Snyder, 25-24. The Cardinals ended the match with a 3-0 run, 27-25.
 
Nutt led the Raider offense with eight kills, hitting .125 from the floor. Snyder added seven kills, and three block assists.
 
Operating under a 6-2 rotation, Davis dished out 19 assists and three digs. Anderson added 14 assists, an ace and 14 digs. Kolivoski led the Raiders defensively with 15 digs and an ace.  
 
Shippensburg recorded 41 kills, hitting .160 from the floor.  
 
Wheeling delivered 46 kills with a .258 hitting percentage. The Cardinal offense was led by Camryn Matus, who recorded 15 kills, hitting .652 from the floor – committing zero errors on 23 swings.
 
Fairmont State 3, Shippensburg 0 (19-25, 15-25, 22-25)
 
Davis opened the match with an ace. The Falcons responded with a 5-2 scoring stretch. A 2-0 run from the Raiders tied the set, 6-6. Fairmont State responded with a 2-0 run and increased its lead after a 4-0 run, 15-10. A 4-1 scoring stretch that featured an ace from Berkley Simmons (Keedysville, Md./Williamsport) cut the SU deficit to two, 17-15. Fairmont State answered with a 4-1 scoring stretch, 21-16. The Falcons ended set one with back-to-back points, 25-19.
 
The Falcons carried the momentum into set two opening with the first two points. A 5-1 scoring stretch increased the lead for Fairmont State to 8-3. Nutt and Cappleman delivered a pair of kills to cut the deficit to three. A 4-1 scoring stretch put the Falcons back ahead by five, 11-6. The deficit was too large for the Raiders as the Falcons closed set two with an 8-3 scoring stretch, 25-15.
 
A 4-0 run from the Falcons gave them the early lead in set three, 5-2. A kill from Johnson sparked a 4-0 run from the Raiders to tie the set, 6-6. Fairmont answered with a 4-0 run. Kills from Cappleman and Nutt cut the SU deficit to one, 10-9. The Falcons responded with the next two points. A pair of kills from Nutt and an ace from Cappleman tied the set, 12-12. Fairmont State completed a 3-0 run to regain the lead, 18-14. An ace from Kolivoski and two errors from the Falcons put the Raiders within one, 18-17. A 3-0 run from the Falcons increased the lead, 21-17. The Raiders went on a late 4-1 scoring stretch to lead 22-21. Fairmont State closed the match with a 4-1 scoring stretch, 25-22.
 
The Raider offense was again led by Nutt, who delivered 12 kills with a .290 hitting percentage. Montague and Cappleman added five kills apiece.
 
Davis had a team-high 18 assists and added nine digs and an ace. Kolivoski paced the Raiders from the back court with 23 digs and tacked on a match-high three aces.
 
Shippensburg ended the match with 33 kills, hitting .104 from the floor. The Raiders delivered seven aces to the Falcons' four. The Falcons delivered 48 kills with a .263 hitting percentage.
 
The Falcons were led by Joey Borelle and McKenzi Martin who delivered 13 kills each.