West Chester University’s volleyball team defeated Shepherd University, East Stroudsburg University and lost a hard-fought match to perennial powerhouse Lock Haven. West Chester University’s women’s volleyball squad defeated Shepherd University, 3-1 in a non-league match last Tuesday night. WCU traveled to West Virginia and won by scores of 25-17, 26-24, 23-25, and 25-16. Shepherd now falls to 5-8 on the season with Tuesday’s loss against the Golden Rams.
Outside hitter Lexi Kegerise registered 17 kills to lead the Lady Rams past Shepherd University. Michelle Powers contributed offensively with 12 kills of her own; Helen Fitzpatrick added 38 assists to go along with Lisa Campbell’s team high 27 digs. Tyler Sheafer recorded 12 digs and Dana Markol had another solid game registering 10 kills.
The WCU volleyball squad went on the road to Kohler Fieldhouse last Friday to defeat the East Stroudsburg Warriors. The Golden Rams swept ESU 3-0, by scores of 25-19, 25-15, 29-27. In the last few weeks WCU has lost only two games in the last five matches. Head Coach Kassie Bellaver attributes their winning to taking the first game of the match.
“It is always better to get the opening set and take the early lead but we do not panic if we lose the first because we know we can come back in the following set” Bellaver said. After going up by two games the Golden Rams had their hands full in game three.
Each team traded points on virtually every serve. WCU was finally able to put the Warriors away by a 29-27 score. The Lady Rams are not only winning matches, but decisively sweeping their opponents.
With Friday’s win over ESU the Golden Rams have built a five game winning streak.
“We do try to putopponents away at every opportunity and we are really playing well right now,” Bellaver said.
East Stroudsburg fell to 5-14 overall and are a measly 1-7 in the league. Campbell recorded 33 digs and Fitzpatrick registered 40 assists Friday afternoon.
In perhaps her most complete game of the season, Fitzpatrick added 14 digs, four kills and three blocks. Powers and outside hitter Kegerise led the Lady Rams with 13 kills each. Julie Boblits added six kills and Allison Grammar posted four. Powers also had a solid defensive outing recording five blocks.
East Stroudsburg’s sophomore outside hitter Kaitlin Behrens had a career-high 10 kills and hit .400, three matches after putting together her previous best of eight kills with a .462 hitting percentage in ESU’s 3-2 win at Shippensburg last Saturday.
Freshman setter Allye Preziosi also established a career-high with 21 digs, her fifth match of the season in double figures, and had 30 assists to direct ESU’s attack. Senior middle blocker Brianne Bachmen had eight kills and went toe-to-toe with Powers all match. Freshman middle blocker Ashley Lesniak put away seven kills for the Warriors. Senior libero Lindsey Lullo had 21 digs and senior outside hitter Emily Detter added 10 digs and four kills in WCU’s win over ESU Friday evening.
The Golden Rams lost a tough match 3-2 against Lock Haven in a PSAC thriller Saturday afternoon. The Lady Eagles from Lock Haven took an early 2-0 lead, but West Chester bounced back with a tremendous effort in the third and fourth sets.
“It was a difficult loss to say the least, but the team showed a lot of character and strength by not giving in and playing hard to the very end,” Bellaver said.
In the final set, Lock Haven had to come from behind to earn the hard-fought victory. The Lady Rams never go down easy and make their opponents earn every point they get. “We did not execute during the 1st and 2nd sets and we were outplayed. However, we turned the corner and were able to get back to our pace and really gave it a great effort” Bellaver said. With Saturday’s win over WCU, Lock Haven improves their overall record to 11-6 and 5-3 in PSAC play.
Coach Bellaver and her team know that they will meet Lock Haven again on Oct. 29 when LHU will play at West Chester inside Hollinger Field House. “It was a loss this time around but we know that we will see them again and we know what we need to do better to come out with the win,” Bellaver said.
Haley Gribler was solid for Lock Haven with a team-high 19 kills. Xuan Gao added 15 kills and freshman Bailey Farthing hit .455 with 11 kills. Five of Bribler’s 19 kills came in the final set to put away the Golden Rams.
West Chester’s overall record now stands at 12-4 overall and are 3-4 within the PSAC conference. The Golden Rams have won five games at home, and four on the road. When playing at a neutral site WCU is 3-0.
The Golden Rams have a busy week coming up. Tuesday WCU will play host to Georgian Court in a non-league matchup, game time is at 7 p.m. This weekend WCU will travel to Slippery Rock, where they will play two games on Friday and Saturday. Friday WCU plays California (Pa.) at noon, later that night they will take on Slippery Rock at 5 p.m.
Saturday the Golden Rams will face Indiana (Pa.) at 10 a.m. and Clarion at 5 p.m.
Steven Fisher is a fourth-year student majoring in communications with a minor in journalism. He can be reached at SF674180@wcupa.edu.