The Shippensburg University volleyball team was defeated in straight sets at Shepherd on Tuesday night, dropping a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup by scores of 14-25, 19-25 and 21-25 in action at the Butcher Athletic Center.
Shippensburg (18-10, 8-5) hit .224 over the final two sets after hitting just .034 (seven kills, six errors) in the opening set. The Raiders swung .171 overall but could not slow down a Shepherd (22-3, 11-2) squad that had a 46-31 advantage in kills and hit an impressive .337 from the floor (only 11 errors on 104 swings).
The service line was also key, as Shepherd doubled up the Raiders in aces (10-5). Both teams had four blocks.
Senior
Kylie Snyder delivered her second straight super-efficient offensive night without an attack error. Snyder had seven kills on 17 swings, a .412 efficiency, and contributed to three of SU's four blocks (including one solo block). She has compiled an attack percentage of .500 over her last two matches (15 kills, zero errors, 30 attempts).
Sophomore
Elise Bragg had 10 kills and hit .241; over the final two sets she delivered eight of those kills and hit .261.
Junior
Clara Wildermuth returned to action and contributed four kills (three in the first set), while redshirt-sophomore
Riley Blank had three kills and hit .250 on eight attempts.
Senior
Shay Kolivoski led the team with 14 digs, while junior
Jaiden Anderson had 25 assists.
The Rams got 35 assists from setter Maggie Smith and 22 digs from libero Alexa Smith. Amya Davis had a match-high 14 kills and hit .393; Ada McCoy added nine kills, and Emily Ryder had nine kills on 13 swings, resulting in a .615 hitting percentage. Sophia Ryan had seven kills, three blocks and hit .375.
Shippensburg hosts East Stroudsburg at 6 p.m. Friday for its final match of the regular season. The Raiders will honor
Hailey Cappleman, Kolivoski,
Natalya Montague and Snyder in a pre-match ceremony on Senior Night.
Playoff seeding scenarios with one match left: There are various scenarios in play in which Shippensburg, with a victory, could earn the Eastern Division No. 3 seed, No. 4 seed or No. 5 seed depending on the results of two Saturday matches (ESU at Shepherd, Kutztown at Lock Haven). A loss on Friday would give SU the East's No. 5 seed, meaning it would travel Monday night to No. 4 seed Kutztown for a first-round match.
