After falling on the road to Pitt-Johnstown on Tuesday, Shippensburg University’s volleyball team rallied at home to defeat Kutztown 4-1 and East Stroudsburg 3-0 in two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchups on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

On Tuesday, Pitt-Johnstown won all three sets over the Raiders, 29-27, 25-20 and 25-13.

The first set featured many runs from both teams and saw a tie at 25-25. After defending a set point, the Raiders made another point to have a set point themselves at 27-26. However, UPJ went on a 3-0 run to win the set. 

In Set 2, the Mountain Cats used an 8-0 and a 4-0 run on their way to winning the set. Set 3 saw a 6-1 scoring stretch for UPJ and another 8-1 scoring stretch that put the Mountain Cats up 15-6. The Raiders were unable to start a comeback and lost in three sets.

Junior Isabelle Bombas paced the SU offense on Tuesday with six kills, hitting .600 from the floor. 

On Friday night, SU hosted the Kutztown Golden Bears for a PSAC East matchup in Heiges Field House.

Despite committing 27 attack errors, 12 service errors and allowing Kutztown eight aces, the Raiders won the match in four sets, 25-19, 20-25, 25-23 and 25-13.

The first set was a back-and-forth that featured 10 ties of the score, before the Raiders used a 7-1 scoring stretch to take the set, 25-19.

Kutztown opened Set 2 with a point before SU scored three points in a row to take a 3-1 lead, its only lead in the second set. Kutztown responded with a 6-0 run that the Raiders were unable to overcome for a while.

SU tied the score at 17-17, but a 5-1 scoring stretch by the Golden Bears gave them the momentum to win Set 2.

In the third set, the Golden Bears took a 16-9 lead before the Raiders rallied to go on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to one. Kutztown was able to extend its lead one more time to 18-16 before the Raiders went on another 6-0 run for the lead. Kutztown managed to keep the set close until the end, but the Raiders persevered and took home the set and the 2-1 lead in sets.

An 11-2 scoring stretch and a 5-0 run helped the Raiders win the fourth set in a dominant fashion, 25-13.

Kayla Johnson led the Raiders with 14 kills and hit .278. Senior Emily Gardner served a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Sophomores Kylie Snyder and Natalya Montague also had double-digit kills at 10 each.

Junior Kearstin Davis amassed 41 assists and added 13 digs.

On Saturday afternoon, the Raiders swept the East Stroudsburg University (ESU) Warriors in another PSAC East matchup in Heiges Field House. The set scores were 25-17, 25-18 and 25-17.

SU served 10 aces and had 45 kills, while only allowing two aces and 24 kills from ESU.

In Set 1, the Raiders never allowed ESU to score more than two points in a row and benefitted from an early 8-1 scoring stretch to convincingly win the set.

The second set saw a 10-9 Warriors lead before the Raiders went on a 10-0 run to take the 19-10 lead. From there, SU cruised toward victory in the second set.

Keeping the momentum,  the Raiders started the third set with an 8-0 run before an SU service error gave the first point to ESU. ESU was unable to recover, and the Raiders went on a 6-1 scoring stretch to end the third set and complete the sweep.

Gardner ripped a team-high of 18 kills, just one shy of her career-high.

Davis finished with 37 assists and four aces. The 37 assists helped her surpass 3,000 career assists. Davis is now one of six players in school history to surpass 3,000 career assists.

With four matches to go in the regular season, the Raiders sit in second place in the PSAC East, which would see them qualify for the playoffs. They are three games ahead of three teams tied for third place in the standings. 

The Raiders return to the court on Friday at 7 p.m., to host Bloomsburg in Heiges Field House.

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