After watching their undefeated streak of 15 straight matches come to a close, the Lady Rams could not, should not and will not switch into “panic mode.” It’s easy to imagine. Fifteen straight wins against opponents with a combined 110 losses; including losing two matches to division opponents with a combined record of 23-6 and peerless division records.
So far, Shippensburg and Kutztown look hard to beat. In fact, both teams pushed West Chester to the limit, but West Chester pushed back.
After losing the first set against the Kutztown Lady Bears, and thus breaking their 22-game streak, the Lady Rams fought back with two straight games. After leading 2-1 and with Match point, the Rams buckled and Kutztown rallied to hand them their first loss.
Two days later, they were again on the road at Shippensburg to gain some momentum and answer back to win the first game of the contest, but failed to win another game as they were dropped in four sets.
“There is still a long road ahead and we will play both of those teams again here at West Chester in October,” Head Coach Kassie Bellaver said after a practice on Friday night.
West Chester still holds the overall best record in the PSAC East with a .882 win percentage, but are two games behind both clubs.
West Chester will face Kutztown again in Hollinger Field House on Oct. 16, and will lock horns with East Stroudsburg a week from then.
Now, the Rams are in a period of no league competition for seven days. After the Sept. 18 showdown at Shippensburg, they do not play another team until Sept. 25, where they will face winless Cheyney, 10 miles down the road.
“The team is looking past the losses and onward to the upcoming away conference matches again Cheyney and Millersville,” Bellaver added. “The losses to Kutztown and Shippensburg have not deterred us from our goal of the PSAC playoffs.”
The Cheyney game on Sept. 25 marks the third straight PSAC game on the road and fourth road game in 12 days spanning 631 miles. It seems like a lopsided schedule, but after Oct. 9 they do not have a PSAC East game on the road and their schedule ends with four straight division home games.
They get the advantage of hosting Kutztown and Shippensburg at home on Oct. 16 and 23, respectively.
Currently, despite the Lady Rams 15-2 overall record they are only 1-2 in the PSAC with seven more contests remaining.
Bellaver continued, “We will bounce back from the two consecutive losses by performing well against Wilmington and Cheyney ,and look to have a successful weekend against Lock Haven, Clarion, and Edinboro.”
West Chester’s next contest is Tuesday at Cheyney, but they will come home to face the three straight PSAC West opponents this weekend in Hollinger FieldHouse with Lock Haven at 7:15 p.m. on Friday and Clarion and Edinboro on Saturday in a respective doubleheader.
Frank Stern is a fourth-year English student with a Journalism minor. He can be reached at FS628548@wcupa.edu.