The Shippensburg University volleyball team picked up a four-set win Friday night at Millersville, defeating the Marauders by scores of 25-16, 22-25, 28-26 and 25-17 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division action at Pucillo Gymnasium.
Shippensburg (17-9, 7-4) secured a berth in this year's PSAC Tournament with the victory, making it five straight seasons that the Raiders have qualified for the postseason. It is the 19th time in 22 seasons under head coach
Leanne Piscotty that the Raiders will compete in the PSAC Tournament.
Sophomore
Mya Davis was the player of the match. She smoked a career-high 17 kills – two more than her previous single-match best (set last Saturday at Kutztown) – while hitting .400 from the floor. Davis added four digs, a solo block and a block assist.
Fellow sophomore
Elise Bragg delivered her second straight double-double and her third of the season, totaling 13 kills and 12 digs. She hit .125 from the floor over 40 attempts.
Senior
Natalya Montague had seven kills in the fourth set and hit .500 in the final frame. Montague did not check into the match for the first time until the score was 22-19 in the second set; she finished with nine kills and two blocks and hit .300.
Redshirt-sophomore
Riley Blank contributed seven kills, while freshman
Lauren Beamer had six kills, swung .286 from the floor, and delivered the first three aces of her collegiate career.
Senior libero
Shay Kolivoski equaled Beamer with three aces, she totaled 13 digs, contributed four assists and handled all 16 of her reception chances. Kolivoski also had an important service run late in the third set that was integral to SU's victory. Fellow back-row mate
Shea Stevens recorded 18 digs, one short of her career high, and had three assists.
Junior
Jaiden Anderson was the distributor of an offense that hit .188 and ripped 17 more kills (58-41) than the hosts. Anderson's 19 digs led the Raiders; she finished with 44 assists and four kills on eight attempts.
Millersville (7-19, 0-13) got a double-double from Alex Nava (11 kills, 15 digs) while Hailey Lazur added seven kills and hit .273. Setter Addison Reustle had 32 assists, 11 digs and two solo blocks.
With the score 10-10 in the first set, Anderson unleashed an eight-point service run that put Shippensburg in the driver's seat early on. Four of the eight points on the run were Marauder attack errors. An
Alia Schmidt kill and a Kolivoski ace punctuated the opening frame.
At 19-18 of the second set, Millersville used a 4-1 to extend its lead to 23-19. A kill by Bragg, an errant Marauder pass and a Montague block got the Raiders within one point, but a Raider attack error and an MU ace made it 1-1.
Millersville led for much of a very nervy third set and was up 22-18 late in the frame. After a Montague kill, Kolivoski stepped to the service line and the Raiders responded with a 5-0 run that flipped a three-point deficit into a two-point lead. Senior
Kylie Snyder and sophomore
Augusta DeVos teamed up for back-to-back blocks at 22-22 to set up a pair of set points.
The Marauders countered, however, getting back-to-back kills from Amanda Protzman to make it 24-24. MU then staved off two more set points, as the score reached 26-26. Kills by Davis and Blank were the difference in giving SU a 2-1 lead.
The fourth set featured an early five-point service run by freshman
Alycia Miller that gave the Raiders an 11-4 lead they would not relinquish. The Marauders got as close as three points later in the frame, with an 18-15 deficit being as close as they would come. Miller added another three-point service run later in the set, and a solo block by Snyder ended the match.
Friday night's win made it the first time that Shippensburg has won games at Pucillo Gymnasium in back-to-back seasons in nearly a decade (2016 and 2017). The Raiders have not won in straight sets at Millersville since 2016.
Shippensburg returns to action at 1 p.m. tomorrow at West Chester.
