This past weekend, the Shippensburg University women’s volleyball team took on two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) adversaries in heated competition within Heiges Field House. Friday, Nov. 4 featured SU’s competition against Seton Hill University and Saturday, Nov. 5 featured a matchup against California University of Pennsylvania. The Raiders were victorious in both contests.

Friday, Nov. 4

SU–3

SHU­–0

The Seton Hill women’s volleyball team traveled to SU to take on the Raiders, which resulted in a high-intensity victory for SU, 3–0.

Freshman middle blocker Samantha Webber came up big in the contest as she led the team in kills with 10 and recorded an additional three aces, two blocks and four digs to help her team win the match.

In the impressive matchup, freshman outside hitter Gabriella Johnson recorded six kills, one block and 10 digs in her pivotal performance. Alongside Johnson, sophomore Morgan DeFloria accumulated six kills and two aces, while senior Annie Goerl achieved five kills, three blocks, one ace and 16 digs.

Freshman Kendall Johnson became a driving force for the Raiders with five kills and four blocks to help assist the team’s march to its victorious weekend.

Throughout the matchup, SU and Seton Hill were back to back scoring, retaining set scores of 25–23, 25–11 and 25–22. The Raiders’ offense was unstoppable as they reigned down a relentless barrage of offensive strikes, which proved SU to be more formidable than Seton Hill had anticipated.

The Raiders had accumulated a total of 33 kills with a hitting percentage of .159 compared to Seton Hill’s 21 kills and a .009 hitting percentage. SU continuously dominated on offense as the squad tallied up 31 assists and 48 total points throughout the game. With Seton Hill only recording 19 assists and 24 points, the opponent’s defensive unit was unable to keep up with the ‘pedal to the metal’ attitude of the nationally recognized SU roster.

Saturday, Nov. 5

SU–3

CAL–0

California University of Pennsylvania traveled to Heiges Field House in the hopes of squeaking out a tight victory over powerhouse SU.

The victory did not fall into Cal’s hands as it fell to the hosting Raiders, 3–0. The set scores included a sweep in all three sets for SU as it won 25–20, 27–25 and 25–16 in a solid performance.

Shippensburg was once again led by its senior core with Goerl posting 14 kills, one block, 14 digs and a .302 hitting percentage for her seventh double-double thus far on the season. After recently moving to No. 8 on the all-time kills list for SU, Goerl blasted passed the mark and now holds the No. 7 spot with 972 career kills.

Outside hitter DeFloria stepped up again, accumulating nine kills and one block alongside middle blocker Webber who posted nine kills and four blocks on a .227 hitting percentage. Senior middle hitter/right side Rebecca Pryor jumped off the bench and into the game and had an immediate impact. Her season-high seven kills, one block and .375 hitting percentage came as her best performance in the 2016 season in the team win over Cal.

The strong defensive performance has been a highlight throughout this season and continued against Cal. Senior defensive specialist/outside hitter Maria Peluso led the team in digs with 22 and posted an additional five assists and two aces to lead the defensive unit.

Now that the Raiders have swept two of its PSAC foes, the team improves to a 24–5 record (11–4 PSAC) and sits pretty with a two-game win streak headed into today’s matchup against PSAC adversary Millersville University.

With the victory over California, Shippensburg now holds a firm spot in the PSAC playoffs with aspirations for a second consecutive PSAC title. The victory puts the squad in good position moving forward, as the Raiders are currently in second-place in the PSAC Central Division.

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