The West Chester University volleyball team crushed Lincoln University and East Stroudsburg University but did not have an answer for the high-powered offense of Lock Haven.Tuesday Oct. 20th the West Chester University Volleyball team cruised past Lincoln University 3-0 inside Hollinger Field House in a non-conference matchup. The games were scored 25-4, 25-7 and 25-17.
In the three games combined Lincoln only scored 28 points against the Lady Rams defense. WCU’s victory over Lincoln was largely contributed to the dominance at the net. Michelle Powers had nine kills and now has 219 kills on the season. She also added two blocks, which is another category she leads in the PSAC.
Freshman Lexi Kegerise and Kelly Martin each posted eight kills in the victory over Lincoln. Kegerise hit .615 from the outside and had no hitting errors. Sophomore captain Lisa Campbell had another consistent game as she led WCU with 11 digs in the match.
Friday night inside Hollinger Field House the Lady Rams volleyball team went head to head against the East Stroudsburg Warriors. WCU won game one by a score of 25-13 and never looked back. The Lady Rams swept their division opponent 3-0. The match was scored 25-13, 25-13, and 25-17.
Game two of the match was WCU dominated, in fact most of the points East Stroudsburg won were from WCU mistakes. Game three started out differently than the previous two.
ESU jumped out to an early lead 8-5. Coach Bellaver called a timeout, gathered the girls together, and after that they went on an 11-3 run to lead the match 16-11. The eventually went on to win that game 25-17.
The passing game for WCU was impressive in the win against ESU. The Warriors now fall to 10-17 overall and 3-12 in the conference. Martin led all hitters with 12 kills meanwhile Powers, Kegerise and Focht all contributed eight kills. Fitzpatrick dished out 32 assists and captain Lisa Campbell had a team high 15 digs for the Rams. Campbell also registered three service aces in Friday’s win.
Saturday at noon WCU hosted division leader Lock Haven University inside Hollinger Field House. Lock Haven is known for having an explosive offense and they showed it on Saturday by beating WCU 3-1. The games were scored 23-25, 28-26, 25-23 and 25-21.
It was a back and forth game one. When one team would take the lead the other team would answer right back with a point of their own. The score was tied ten different times. After Lock Haven took a late lead, WCU came from behind to win a close game 25-23.
In game two WCU was able to jump out to an early 9-5 lead, however with Lock Haven’s fierce offense the Lady Rams were unable to hold onto the lead. After another back and forth game Lock Haven was able to edge WCU by the smallest of margins, 28-26.
With the match tied at a game each the pivotal game three was extremely important. Lock Haven led for the majority of game three. Once again the resiliency of the WCU Rams showed up and they were able to mount a comeback and tie the game at 21. A few costly errors in the late stages of game three helped Lock Haven capture the win by a score of 25-23.
Game four ended in another loss. Lock Haven nailed down the win by defeating WCU 25-21.
They played extremely well defensively, and overall they gave top ranked Lock Haven a run for their money. Every game was very close and a few more favorable bounces and WCU would have been able to upset Lock Haven.
The WCU volleyball team is now 18-13 overall and 4-4 in the PSAC conference. When playing away from the Hollinger Field House the Lady Rams record is 4-8. At home this season WCU is 14-5.
This upcoming week the Lady Rams’ continue their extended home stand. On Tuesday, Oct. 27th WCU will host Cheyney University at 7 p.m. inside Hollinger Field House. On Wednesday, Oct. 28th WCU welcomes Shepherd University at 6 p.m. On Halloween, WCU will play divisional rival Kutztown University at 2 p.m.
Steven Fisher is a third-year student majoring in communications with a minor in Journalism. He can be reached at SF674180@wcupa.edu.