This years homecoming festivities included the PSAC East crossover tournament for women’s volleyball, hosted in Hollinger Field House. The West Chester girls went into the weekend event excited for success and ready to pull through, but were on the losing end of three very well played matches.The weekend started off with a match against Lock Haven University on Friday night. The Lady Rams were expecting a victory over the then 2-13 Bald Eagles. But, even with Kristen Decker’s season high 27 kills, the Eagles proved too strong, taking three of the four games from the 17-3 WCU squad. West Chester showed perseverance, coming back to tie the fourth game up at 21 before Lock Haven turned on the afterburners to finish it off.
Saturday proved to be the same outcome for the Lady Rams, as they fell to Clarion three games to none and Edinboro 3-1 as well. The girls played exceptionally well against Clarion, but the Golden Eagles were just too consistent in their play.
Edinboro won in three heartbreaking matches, one coming down to only two points. Although West Chester fell to 2-5 in PSAC divisional play this weekend, there were still many standout players.
Senior Kristen Decker proved this weekend just how strong of a leader she really is. Going into the tournament, she was ranked in three different NCAA Division II statistics: 67th with 4.9 digs per game, 76th with 3.86 kills per game, and 79th with a hitting percentage of .318.
Decker totaled 48 kills in the three game weekend, and in the game versus Clarion, she broke the West Chester all time record for kills in a single season, continuing to add to her already outstanding senior season.
Another standout this season is the junior, Jacqui Vivanco. She is also nationally ranked this year, at 37th with .69 aces per game and 67th with 4.94 digs per game. She continued her success during the weekend, leading the team in digs against Clarion.
Freshman Michelle Powers had a great tournament as well, among the leaders in kills and digs in all three contests. West Chester expects great things from her in the future.
One more notable was Lisa Yeasted, who recorded 24 assists in the game against Clarion.
Lock Haven and Edinboro both ended the tournament undefeated at 3-0, while Clarion was 2-1, and Shippensburg and East Stroudsburg ended 1-2.
The week wasn’t a total loss for the Golden Rams though, as they romped over Cheyney Tuesday night, taking three consecutive games while only allowing a total of sixteen points. This win boosted the girls record to 17-2, and held the number six spot in the nation.
During the match, Senior Ashley Zeck made her way into the NCAA Division II record books for consecutive points served with 28 in a row, smashing the previous record of 16.
West Chester is going to put this heartache of a weekend behind them and focus on the rest of the season. They are gearing up for Tuesday’s Oct. 2 match up against Millersville University. The Golden Rams still hold am impressive 17-5 record, and still have enough games left to come back and make conference playoffs, despite the disappointing weekend.
Ryan Frisco is a first year student majoring in Communication Studies. He can be reached at RF648257@wcupa.edu.