After starting off their season losing their first three conference games, the West Chester women’s volleyball team got started on a winning streak of six straight games—four of which were conference games.
Heading into this past week, the Golden Rams had a record of 15-10.
Last Thursday, West Chester hosted the University of the Sciences at Hollinger Field House. Although the Rams didn’t find their game at first, and almost let the first set slip away, they were able to recover and take the first set from the Blue Devils.
The Golden Rams were trailing the Blue Devils 22-16 before they got on a hot streak and knotted the set at 24-24.
Helen Fitzpatrick served up two straight aces to give West Chester the first set, 26-24.
After the first set, West Chester had a much easier time handling the University of the Sciences. They took the second set, 25-10, and the third, 25-15 to grab the straight set win from the Blue Devils.
Their success shifted when they traveled to Shippensburg for an inter-conference match up. Earlier in the season, West Chester took the match in straight sets from the Raiders. However, on Friday night, West Chester kept the sets close, but was unable to take a set from the Raiders.
Shippensburg won the match 25-20, 25-21, 25-21. West Chester played a good match against the Raiders, but their Achilles heel was their hitting errors. They were unable to recover from their 24 hitting errors, and that, combined with Shippensburg’s nine defensive blocks, prevented the Golden Rams from capturing an important conference win.
Lexi Kegerise led the team in kills with 11. Fitzpatrick assisted on 18 of West Chester’s points, and Lisa Campbell had 20 digs for the Golden Rams. Mary Faust was an important contributor for the Rams with 10 assists and five kills. Julie Boblits added six kills.
The Rams played close with Shippensburg, but they needed to put the heartbreaking loss behind them before they traveled to Millersville on Saturday afternoon for another pivotal conference match up.
The Golden Rams did not get the start they wanted against Millersville. They dropped the first set, 25-15. West Chester was then able to recover and take two consecutive close sets from the Mauraders, 25-23 and 25-22.
The fourth, and possible decisive set for the Golden Rams, was neck and neck. The Rams and Mauraders played extremely close, practically matching each other point for point.
West Chester was eventually able to rally for the fourth set win and take the match 15-25, 25-23, 25-22, 26-24.
Boblits added another 16 kills to her total while Kegerise had 13. Kelly Martin, Cara Reese and Fitzpatrick each had seven kills for the Golden Rams. Fitzpatrick also added another 30 assists and 11 digs.
Dana Markol had 17 digs and Tyler Sheafer added 10.
The conference win brings the Golden Rams to 6-8 in the conference and 17-11 overall.
West Chester has played most of their games thus far at home, and were able to grab wins in 10 of their 12 matches. They are ending their season with a long road trip before they head home for their season finale against Kutztown on Nov. 5.
They are currently sitting in the middle of the PSAC East standings with a 6-8 conference record. They will need to compensate for the lack of home court advantage in their next five matches to ensure themselves a spot in the postseason.
Amy Festa is a fifth-year student majoring in English with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at AF649219@wcupa.edu.