WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University women's volleyball returned home and returned to PSAC East play on Friday night against rival Shippensburg, falling to the Raiders in four sets by a 25-19, 25-13, 24-26, 25-16 final.

West Chester and Shippensburg traded points throughout the early going of the first set but it was the Raiders who took a 25-19 first set victory, taking a 1-0 lead in the match. In the first set, Shippensburg hit a solid .324 with 15 kills on 34 swings, including five kills by Kat Negron to jump out to the early 1-0 lead over the Golden Rams.

In the second set, Shippensburg jumped out to an early 14-7 lead, prompting the first West Chester timeout of the second set. Following the timeout, West Chester cut into the Shippensburg lead, trimming the deficit to 14-10 before the Raiders went on a 5-2 run to take a 19-12 lead and force the second Golden Ram timeout of the set. With this late seven-point advantage, the Raiders never looked back, pulling away to a 25-13 second set victory, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

In the third set, West Chester showed its fight, sneaking out to an 18-15 lead, which following a Brynn Dreisbach (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) ace, prompted the first Shippensburg timeout of the evening. Shippensburg began mounting a comeback out of the timeout, cutting the West Chester lead to 19-17, prompting the first WCU timeout of the third set. West Chester extended its lead to 21-17, leading to the second Shippensburg timeout of the set. The second Shippensburg timeout of the set did its job, halting the WCU run and sparking a rally by the Raiders, which eventually led to the set being tied at 23-23 late. West Chester closed out the set with an impressive sequence by Hailey Lewis (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), as her kill gave the Golden Rams a lead before a block assist with Lewis and Abiah Lane (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) sent the match to the fourth set with a 26-24 WCU victory.

In the fourth set, West Chester and Shippensburg traded points early but it was the visiting Raiders who prevailed by a 25-16 final to escape Hollinger with a 3-1 victory over the homestanding Golden Rams.

Lexy Caltabiano (Woolwich Twp, N.J./GCIT) led the Golden Rams in kills with 12, while also coming away with nine digs, which was second best on the team, trailing only Sydney Heffner (Bath, Pa./Northampton) who recorded a team-high 16 digs along with three aces in the setback. Jamie Byrne (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) led the squad in assists with 21, while Megan St. Jean (Eaton, Co./Eaton) added 16 of her own on Friday night.

Kat Negron led Shippensburg in kills with 15 as one of three Raiders in double figures in the victory, Gracen Nutt and Kaitlyn Townsend ended the night with 13 kills each, while Kearstin Davis added three aces to go along with a match-high 46 assists.
 

Up Next:

West Chester returns to action on Saturday afternoon against Shepherd beginning at 1 p.m.