The Shippensburg University volleyball team put forth a strong comeback bid Friday night after falling behind by two sets, but the Raiders could not claw their way back and ultimately fell 3-1 to Lock Haven in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup at Thomas Field House.
Set scores were 20-25, 23-25, 25-21 and 22-25.
Shippensburg (12-7, 3-3) hit .206 from the floor and out-blocked Lock Haven (12-5, 5-1) by an 8-7 margin, but the hosts held an 11-7 advantage in aces and hit .247 as a team to claim the victory in another close contest.
In this season's previous matchup, also a four-set win by the Bald Eagles, the second set was also decided by a two-point margin. Five of the six sets won by Lock Haven against Shippensburg this season were by four points or less.
Junior
Clara Wildermuth led the Raiders with a career-high 14 kills while also delivering one of the most efficient outings of her career, swinging .355 (just three errors on 31 total swings). She also contributed four digs, one off her career high, and contributed to a block.
Seniors
Hailey Cappleman and
Natalya Montague were once again integral to the offense. Cappleman had 10 kills on just two errors for a .364 hitting percentage while serving a team-high four aces, contributing to six blocks (including two solo) and adding five digs.
Montague had nine kills on just one error, hitting .381, to go along with two blocks. Sophomore
Elise Bragg had nine kills; redshirt-sophomore
Riley Blank added six.
Mya Davis delivered her second signature performance in as many weeks, coming off the bench Friday night to become a major factor. Davis finished with seven kills and no errors on just 12 swings – an incredible career-best hitting percentage of .583 – and had a hand in two blocks. It is the third time this season she has recorded seven or more kills in a match while also committing one error or less.
Junior
Jaiden Anderson was the lone Raider setter on the night and delivered 33 assists – the second-most in a match in her career – to go along with 14 digs and a block assist. Her previous single-match best for assists came in the previous meeting against Lock Haven – giving her 68 in eight sets against the Bald Eagles this season.
Senior
Shay Kolivoski led SU with 18 digs. Junior
Shea Stevens added 10 digs, while junior
Sophia Barrera had four to go along with a pair of aces.
Lock Haven's Avery Smith delivered 12 kills without an error, hitting .632 on a total of 19 swings, while Madelyn Mitchell finished with a match-high 17 kills on a whopping 63 attempts. Gracelynn Wolzen had 10 kills and hit .571, while libero Olivia Taylor totaled 41 digs, six assists and three aces. Setter Natalie Gibson had 44 assists, 12 digs and three aces.
With the score 17-16 in Lock Haven's favor in the first set, the hosts scored three straight points to take a 20-16 lead. SU countered with consecutive kills by Bragg and Blank, but the Bald Eagles responded with five of the final seven points (including back-to-back aces by Reagan Irons) to take a 1-0 lead.
Lock Haven's first set featured a potent hitting efficiency, with 15 kills to just two errors and a .371 team attack percentage. SU was no slouch itself, hitting .250 from the floor on 36 attempts.
Shippensburg led 16-14 in the second set when the Bald Eagles countered with four straight points and six of the next seven overall to take a 20-17 advantage that necessitated an SU timeout.
The Raiders eventually clawed their way back even at 21-21 after consecutive kills by Montague and Wildermuth, and another Montague kill made it 22-22. A service error and a Bald Eagle ace followed, however, and a kill by Smith made it a 2-0 lead for Lock Haven.
In the third set, SU used a 4-0 run to go up 11-7 and led by as many as seven points in the frame – with a Davis kill making it 19-12 in its favor. A 5-1 Bald Eagle run forced a Raider timeout at 22-18; Wildermuth and Montague answered with kills to create set point at 24-19. After two Haven kills forced SU's second timeout, a Cappleman kill secured the third set for the Raiders.
Shippensburg's hitting efficiency in the third set all but mirrored Lock Haven's from the first set. The Raiders swung .326 – crunching 16 kills on just one error.
After scoring the first two points in the fourth set, Shippensburg yielded a 7-0 run to the Bald Eagles that forced a timeout. Payton Stanton – who had recorded just three kills thus far on the night at 9-6 – delivered kills on each of Lock Haven's next four points that extended its lead.
The Bald Eagles led by as many as eight points in the frame on two occasions, including at 19-11. Undaunted, the Raiders produced a 6-0 run to force a timeout. The run began with a failed challenge by Lock Haven on a Wildermuth kill and included three kills by Davis.
SU kept chipping away and eventually completed a comeback to even the set. A nifty kill by Davis off a service reception by freshman
Alycia Miller made it 22-20, and Cappleman responded with back-to-back aces to make it 22-22.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, who were out of timeouts due to their deficits earlier in the set, a service error, Bald Eagle kill and an attack error ended the match in Lock Haven's favor.
Shippensburg is right back at it at noon tomorrow at Bloomsburg.
