The Shippensburg University volleyball team dropped a match at the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament Friday, falling to the Seton Hill Griffins in four sets at Clarion's Tippin Gymnasium. Set scores were 25-22, 16-25, 20-25, 25-23.
 
Shippensburg (1-1) took on the two of the best teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division on back-to-back nights, recording a five-set victory over tournament hosts Clarion last evening before suffering a setback against the Griffins (4-0).
 
Shippensburg was led by junior Hailey Cappleman, who posted a team-high 12 kills and a .379 attack percentage. Junior Natalya Montague also posted double-digit kills (10) and led the team with a .400 attack percentage.
 
Sophomore Clara Wildermuth totaled nine kills, four blocks and just one error. Freshman Elise Bragg added a career-best nine kills in her second collegiate match, while senior setter Kearstin Davis dished out 24 assists and eight digs.
 
Junior libero Shay Kolivoski paced the Raiders in both digs (21) and service aces (3).
 
Set one proved to be back and forth battle as neither team led by more than two until the Griffins completed a 3-0 run, 12-9. A Seton Hill error and an ace from Berkley Simmons put the Raiders back within one, 13-12. A service error and back-to-back kills increased the Griffin lead to 18-14. A 3-1 scoring stretch from SU that featured kills from senior Isabelle Bombas and Cappleman cut the deficit back to two, 19-17. A kill from Bragg sparked a 4-0 run for the Raiders to give them the lead, 21-20. The teams exchanged points, tying twice before the Raiders arrived at set point after kills from Montague and Wildermuth, 24-22. Wildermuth added another kill to end set one, 25-22.  SU finished set one hitting .300 from the floor, totaling 16 kills.
 
Set two started in similar fashion, as the Griffins pulled ahead with their first lead after a 5-0 run, 12-7. With Koviloski on the service line, SU completed a 6-1 scoring stretch to tie the set, 13-13. The Griffins ended the set with an 8-2 scoring stretch to even the match, 25-16.
 
Bragg opened set three with a pair of kills followed by a Davis ace, 3-0. The Griffins responded with a 7-2 scoring stretch to give them the lead, 9-6. A kill from Montague and two aces from sophomore Shea Stevens gave the lead back to SU, 13-12. After trading points, Seton Hill answered with a 3-0 run to force an SU timeout and regain the lead, 18-15.  Two Griffin attack errors put the Raiders within one, 18-19. A 6-2 scoring stretch for the Griffins gave them the set three win, 25-20.
 
The decisive fourth set saw the Griffins utilize an 8-0 run to take an 18-8 edge. SU responded by taking nine of the next 11 points to bring itself back to within two. A Bragg kill made it a one-point margin just prior to match point.
 
Seton Hill won the attack percentage battle, out-hitting the Raiders .245-to-.193 in the match thanks in large part to a .355 attack percentage in the third frame. Shippensburg out-blocked its opponent for the second-straight match, beating the Griffins in that category 11-to-5.
 
Shippensburg wraps up play at the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament with a pair of matches Saturday, continuing the round-robin tournament with American International at 9 a.m. and lastly Goldey-Beacom at 4:30 p.m.