Gallery: (9-18-2026) 2026 Volleyball vs. West Chester
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team came to life midway through its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division and home opener Friday night, achieving a victory over West Chester by set scores of 14-25, 25-23, 25-19 and 25-8 in action at a sultry Heiges Field House.
Shippensburg (8-4, 1-0 PSAC East) responded with efficiency after a slow start – hitting .240 over the final three sets and committing just nine attack errors in that span. SU also matched its season high with 11 blocks and served nice aces.
The Raiders were also strong in their transition attack, hitting .244 and committing just two errors on the night in such opportunities.
Senior
Natalya Montague slammed a team-high 11 kills and led the team by hitting .360. Montague matched her career high with seven blocks and set a new career high with six of those being block assists. It was the third time this season that Montague delivered double-digit kills and the second time this season she contributed five or more blocks.
Fellow senior
Hailey Cappleman had nine kills, four block assists and hit .261, while redshirt-sophomore
Riley Blank delivered eight kills on just one error and hit .304 from the floor.
Senior libero
Shay Kolivoski led the team with 16 digs – making it 42 consecutive matches (82 in her career) in which she has recorded double-digit digs. Sophomore
Elise Bragg had 14 digs to go along with four kills.
Junior
Jaiden Anderson and freshman
Molly Seifert combined for 34 assists and served seven of the team's aces. Anderson's five aces are a new career high.
Senior
Kylie Snyder maintained her excellent work at the net by matching her career high with seven block assists. Snyder has had a hand in 25 blocks over her last six matches; Friday was the third time in that span she finished a match with five or more blocks.
After a convincing first-set performance in which it got eight kills from Anna Richardson and hit .312 as a team, West Chester (5-7, 0-1) was beset by errors in the final two sets – totaling 20 on attack with a negative hitting percentage in that span. Richardson (13 kills) and Atkins (12 kills) combined for 25 of WCU's 42 kills on the night while Hailey Atkins served five aces – including three-in-a-row early in the second set.
Trailing 16-14 in the second set, a four-point service run by Anderson helped put SU back in front, marking the fourth lead change of the frame. Junior
Shea Stevens later served one of her two aces on the night to make it 20-17, but the Golden Rams responded out of a timeout with the next three points. With the score 22-21, Seifert delivered back-to-back aces to help the Raiders pull away.
SU was trailing 17-16 in the third set when Bragg stepped to the service line and delivered an 8-0 run that turned the tide in the match.
The Raiders were up 8-5 in the fourth set when Bragg delivered again – this time a 6-0 run – to roar ahead. Leading 18-7, Anderson then unleashed a 6-0 run that included two of her aces.
The victory marked SU's ninth straight win over West Chester in the overall series.
Shippensburg is back in action at 7 p.m. tomorrow when it hosts Shepherd at Heiges Field House.
