West Chester University Volleyball went 1-1 over the weekend, bringing their record to 21-7 (10-6 PSAC) with two games left on the season.
Gannon University (23-5, 12-3 PSAC) marched into the Sturzebecker Health Science Center on Friday evening and defeated the Golden Rams 3-1 in a conference crossover match, with Gannon representing the Northwest Division of the PSAC and WCU the Southeastern.
Gannon and West Chester split the first two sets (18-25 Gannon, 25-17 WCU), but Gannon managed to put away the match by claiming victory in the next two (26-24, 25-18).
West Chester trailed 24-20 in the third set, but managed to mount a comeback that saw the Golden Rams tie things up at 24 apiece. Gannon didn’t waver and polished off the set by scoring two straight points to secure the victory.
Karleigh Lutz (11), Victoria Cruciani (10) and Abbie Dischert (10) all recorded double-digit kills, with other contributions in that department coming from Allie Duffy (nine), Jillian Grammer (four) and Peyton Wright (three).
Grammer finished with a team-high 36 assists and was also second on the afternoon in digs, finishing behind Nicki Yates who registered 24.
West Chester was out-shot by Gannon .225-.138, and the teams tied for total kills with 49.
Mercyhurst University (10-16, 5-10) visited West Chester on Saturday afternoon, and things were tilted in the Golden Rams’ favor as they managed to sweep the Lakers 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-17).
WCU was powered by their defense, as they held Mercyhurst to a -.020 hitting percentage. Meanwhile the Golden Rams posted a hitting percentage of .227. Duffy finished with a team-high eight blocks, and Deischert added four rejections.
Lutz led the way with another 11 kills, with the top-five rounded out by Cruciani (eight), Deischert (seven), Amy Kovacs (seven) and Duffy (three).
Grammer dished out 35 assists and Yates headed the digs department once again with 17.
West Chester bested Mercyhurst in all major metrics, including points (54-32), kills (38-23), aces (7-5), blocks (9-4), assists (38-20) and digs (49-30).
The Golden Rams also celebrated Senior Day in their win over Mercyhurst, and we’d like to extend thanks and congratulations to the following senior members of the Volleyball team for all of their hard work, contributions and successes: Lyndsey Iacobelli, Lutz, Cruciani, Kovacs and Yates.
B.J. is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies. He can be reached at WB806695@wcupa.edu.