Shippensburg University Athletics

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team delivered one of its most efficient performances of the season Friday night, dispatching Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division rival East Stroudsburg in straight sets on Senior Night by scores of 25-16, 25-12 and 25-22 at Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg (19-10, 9-5) hit .278 from the floor, its second-best output of the season, while out-acing and out-blocking East Stroudsburg (17-9, 9-4) by 10-4 margins. SU committed only 10 attack errors, including just five through the opening two sets.
 
The Raiders fell behind 2-0 after the opening points but only trailed once the remainder of the match – at 10-9 of the opening set. After taking a 1-0 lead, SU used a huge 6-0 service run by freshman Molly Seifert to race out to an 11-3 lead in the second set. ESU got as close as 15-14 in the third set before the Raiders slowly but surely pulled away down the stretch.
 
Kylie Snyder, one of four Raider seniors honored in a pre-match ceremony, tied for the team lead with eight kills. Snyder hit .462, committing just two errors on 13 swings, and delivered a pair of block assists.
 
Fellow senior Natalya Montague matched her career high with seven block assists while also delivering six kills and hitting .214 from the floor. Sophomore Elise Bragg was an efficient .231; hitting eight kills on just two errors to go along with two block assists.
 
Six different Raiders had a hand in a block. Junior Clara Wildermuth, redshirt-sophomore Riley Blank and freshman Lauren Beamer each recorded three block assists. Wildermuth had three kills and no errors; Beamer ripped five kills, served two aces and hit .273, Blank had four kills and hit .231.
 
SU returned to a 6-2 with great success. Junior Jaiden Anderson had 18 assists, three digs and two kills, while Seifert had 11 assists, three digs and matched her career high with four aces.  
 
Senior Shay Kolivoski had 13 digs and two aces; junior Shea Stevens led the Raiders with 16 digs and also had two aces. Bragg also added eight digs.
 
Hailey Cappleman, Kolivoski, Montague and Snyder were honored before the match in the senior ceremony.
 
The Warriors swung just .081 from the floor – their second-lowest output of the season and their least efficient performance against a PSAC opponent. Rylee Ruggiero contributed a match-high nine kills while libero Allison Flynn finished with a match-high 17 digs. Harry Berry delivered four kills without an error and had a hand in all four ESU blocks.
 
SU contained Jadyn Orava, who entered the night ranked second in the PSAC in kills per set (4.24). The Warrior junior totaled just four kills in the match and produced a negative hitting percentage. Orava had 15 kills in the first meeting between the two teams on Oct. 3.
 
Shippensburg awaits the results of two Saturday matches to see what its PSAC Tournament seed will be.
 
The scenarios are as follows:
 
Lock Haven defeats Kutztown; Shepherd defeats ESU: Shippensburg (9-5) is the No. 3 seed, ESU (9-5) is the No. 4 seed, Kutztown (8-6) is the No. 5 seed; ESU hosts KU on Monday; SU travels to West No. 2 seed Gannon on Wednesday. [SU earns the tiebreaker by being 2-0 vs. ESU]
 
Lock Haven defeats Kutztown; ESU defeats Shepherd: ESU (10-4) is the No. 3 seed, Shippensburg (9-5) is the No. 4 seed, Kutztown (8-6) is the No. 5 seed; SU hosts KU on Monday; ESU travels to West No. 2 seed Gannon on Wednesday.
 
Kutztown defeats Lock Haven; Shepherd defeats ESU: Shippensburg (9-5) is the No. 3 seed, ESU (9-5) is the No. 4 seed, Kutztown (9-5) is the No. 5 seed; ESU hosts KU on Monday; SU travels to West No. 2 seed Gannon on Wednesday. [SU earns the tiebreaker by being 3-1 vs. ESU and KU]
 
Kutztown defeats Lock Haven; ESU defeats Shepherd: ESU (10-4) is the No. 3 seed, Kutztown (9-5) is the No. 4 seed, Shippensburg (9-5) is the No. 5 seed; KU hosts SU on Monday; ESU travels to West No. 2 seed Gannon on Wednesday. [KU earns the tiebreaker by having two victories over Lock Haven, the highest seed moving down the division (as SU and KU split the season series)]