West Chester gained a little bit of momentum, beating host Wilmington in a non-PSAC contest on Friday, 3-1.However the story of the week started Tuesday, when West Chester (16-2, 1-2) lost their second straight conference game to the Shippensburg Lady Raiders, 30-20, 25-30, 16-30, 26-30.
Reeling from their first loss of the season three days earlier, West Chester took to the host’s court with a fury and momentum, taking the first game from Shippensburg.
West Chester opened with a decisive 10-point victory in game one, but Ship battled back to tie the game score at 1-1 with a five-point game.
In game three, after Shippensburg tied the game at 11-11, the Lady Raiders executed and scored 12 straight points behind sophomore Brittany Roche to take a 23-11 lead, and eventually won the game in a 14-point victory.
The Lady Raiders made the last game interesting, keeping it close until the end, but the Lady Raiders edged out the Lady Rams by four points.
The loss marked the second straight loss, and pushed West Chester into a tie for fourth place in the PSAC East despite holding the best overall winning percentage and most wins (15).
Lady Ram Senior Kristen Decker contributed 18 kills and 21 digs, while Jacqueline Vivanco and Michelle Powers provided 18 digs and seven kills, respectively.
For Shippensburg, Junior Maureen DuVall set the Lady Raiders with 51 assists and six kills.
On Saturday, West Chester jumped back into the win column by setting down Wilmington in four games.
After West Chester opened with a loss in the first game, the team regrouped to win the next three tilts.
Decker gave another strong start, posting 22 kills and 21 digs. Vivanco provided another 22 digs. Lisa Yeasted set the team with 55 assists in the contest.
West Chester’s come-from-behind win comes as they plan to take on school rival Cheyney.
Cheyney is winless in four contests, but will be trying to trip up West Chester with a third straight division loss. West Chester will try to beat down Cheyney and even their PSAC record at 2-2
Frank Stern is a fourth-year English student with a Journalism minor. He can be reached at FS628548@wcupa.edu.