The Shippensburg University volleyball team split its Saturday at Frostburg State's Bobcat Invitational, dropping a neutral-site match to Pitt-Johnstown in straight sets and later sweeping the hosts in action at the Bobcat Arena.
Set scores against UPJ were 23-25, 17-25 and 19-25. Set scores against FSU were 25-22, 25-15 and 25-18.
Shippensburg (4-2) hit .198 on the day – .244 against the Bobcats after hitting .164 against the Mountain Cats. The Raiders served 10 of their 11 aces on the day against Frostburg State while allowing 13 overall.
Junior
Clara Wildermuth continued her strong play with 14 kills and a .270 hitting percentage on the day. Senior
Shay Kolivoski totaled 24 digs overall, while fellow senior
Kylie Snyder recorded 10 total kills and six total blocks.
Freshman
Alia Schmidt earned her first action of the season and took advantage of the opportunity, posting seven kills and finishing the day hitting .235 over 17 attempts.
In its 11 a.m. match against Pitt-Johnstown, the Raiders started strong and maintained leads of 13-8 and 18-13 in the first set. SU maintained its advantage all the way to 23-21, but the Mountain Cats scored the final four points to take a 1-0 lead.
The score was 15-14 in the second set when Pitt-Johnstown closed on a 10-3 run to take a two-set lead. UPJ used a 9-3 run early in the third set to pull away and ultimately earn the sweep.
The Mountain Cats were efficient, hitting .314 from the floor. Pitt-Johnstown out-blocked SU 8-4 and served six aces to Shippensburg's one. Caroline Knight led all players with 15 kills and hit .394.
Senior
Hailey Cappleman had a team-high eight kills against UPJ and hit .294; Wildermuth added six kills and also hit .294. Senior
Natalya Montague had six kills and hit .286.
Frostburg State (2-5) hit just .068, committing 12 more attack errors than Shippensburg. The Bobcats also had eight service errors while yielding 10 aces to the Raiders. SU tallied 9.5 blocks and hit a season-high .244 from the floor.
Shippensburg trailed 21-20 in the first set against FSU before scoring five of the final six points to take its 1-0 lead. Junior
Shea Stevens served three of her career-high five aces on a five-point service run that gave SU a 6-0 lead to start the second set. Trailing 12-11 in the third set, Stevens delivered a four-point service run that included another ace and two Raider blocks.
Sophomore
Elise Bragg concluded the match with a six-point service run to end the third set in which she served two of her three aces.
Wildermuth had eight kills – the most by a player in the match from either team, The two squads combined for just 61 kills while also combining for 34 attack errors and 11 service errors.
Kolivoski had a match-high 12 digs while freshman
Molly Seifert contributed 11 digs and 10 assists. Snyder had a match-high five block assists, two short of her career high.
Stevens had not served more than two aces in a match prior to her career-high five against Frostburg State.
Shippensburg remains on the road next weekend for one more tournament. The Raiders will play a pair of matches at Wheeling on Friday and at West Liberty on Saturday. Each day, SU will have a road match against the respective host along with one neutral-site match.
