The West Chester University Women’s Volleyball team won four matches over the last two weeks, winning two important PSAC Eastern Division matchups. With these victories, the Lady Rams (18-6, 7-1 PSAC East) remain in second place and have assured themselves a spot in the playoffs this year.On Oct. 7, the Lady Rams disposed of PSAC East rival East Stroudsburg 3-0 in a match that took barely over an hour. The Lady Warriors never really posed any serious threat to the Lady Rams as they won by scores of 25-18, 25-15 and 25-12.
East Stroudsburg entered the match third in the league in blocks and continued to dominate the front line, but West Chester overcame that for the victory.
Behind the play of Michelle Powers, 13 kills and six digs, and Jenna Burd, 10 kills and two digs, West Chester powered past the Lady Warriors.
Kyla Beck and Nora Jingeleski led West Chester with 13 and 11 digs, respectively. Lisa Yeasted recorded 30 assists to add on to her school record.
On Oct. 11, the Lady Rams had to come-from-behind to defeat the Mercy College Lady Mavericks 3-2. West Chester won by scores of 16-25, 16-25, 25-9, 25-8 and 15-10.
West Chester took leads in the first two sets but was unable to hold off a strong Mercy College attack. In the second set, after the Lady Mavericks tied the game at 13, West Chester was only able to muster three points as Mercy College scored 12.
In the third set, behind two aces from Kellie Brumbaugh, the Lady Rams jumped out to a 16-5 lead to take control of the set. In the fourth set, Brumbaugh and Megan Musselman were the driving forces behind the West Chester comeback.
Yeasted continued her dominant season recording 44 assists and 15 digs in the win. Beck, Brumbaugh, Jacqueline Vivanco and Kyra Yost joined Yeasted with double digits in digs.
On Oct. 14, West Chester defeated another PSAC East rival, the Millersville University Marauders, 3-1. The win solidified the Lady Ram’s hold on second place in the conference. West Chester won by scores of 25-23, 25-9, 23-25 and 25-17.
Millersville was determined to come out and prove that they were better than their record (6-17), but the Lady Rams held their ground and came away with the victory.
Yeasted recorded 34 assists and 18 digs to lead the way for West Chester. Vivanco, Yost, Musselman and Brumbaugh each recorded double digits in digs for the Lady Rams.
Lacie Becher recorded 12 kills and Musselman had 11. Yeasted added seven blocks in the contest.
On Oct. 16, in the final matchup of the week, the Lady Rams swept USP 3-0 for their fourth consecutive victory. West Chester won by scores of 25-13, 25-17 and 25-13.
The Lady Rams recorded at .235 hitting percentage in the contest, including 42 kills, 19 errors and 98 attacks.
Musselman led all players in the match with 11 kills,as well as three aces in the matchup. Yeasted added 35 assist to her astounding career record.
Vivanco and Beck led West Chester with 17 and 10 digs respectively. Yeasted and Becher had three blocks apiece.
With 143 assists during the two week span, Yeasted has a school record 4,410 assists in her career.
This week, the Lady Rams have two games, one out of conference and one in conference. On Oct. 23, West Chester will host Wilmington College at 7 p.m. On Oct. 25, the Lady Rams hosts PSAC East rival the Kutztown University Golden Bears for a 1 p.m. matchup. Both games will be played at Hollinger Field House.
LJ Harrell is a third-year student majoring in business. He can be reached at LH639694@wcupa.edu.