Millersville, Pa. - After dropping the first two sets to West Chester, the Millersville volleyball team won the third stanza, but the Golden Rams were too much to handle as they took the fourth period and a 3-1 win Saturday afternoon inside Pucillo Gymnasium.
The Marauders fell to 11-15 overall including 4-13 in PSAC play while West Chester has won five of six and improved to 17-11 on the season including 7-10 in the conference. These two teams split their regular season meetings and the all-time series is now tied up at 27-27.
The match was a highly competitive one throughout as it saw 19 ties and eight lead changes. There were three ties in the first six points to begin the first set before the visitors began to gain a little momentum. They went up by as many as seven and led 17-10 before Millersville called a timeout. Out of the break, the Golden Rams pushed their advantage to 10 as it was in the final score of the stanza. West Chester's offense was nearly unstoppable in the first period as it hit .448 with 16 kills and three errors on 29 swings.
The home team took the initiative to open the second set and was up 7-3 thanks in part to four attack errors by the Golden Rams. However, the away team embarked on an 8-3 run of its own to take an 11-10 lead. After the Marauders reclaimed a 12-11 advantage, West Chester reeled off eight of the next nine points and was up, 19-13. From that point on, the closest Millersville could get was five points but dropped the stanza by seven.
The Marauders' offense came to life in the third period with an attacking percentage of .343 that included 13 kills and just one error on 35 total attacks. The set saw five ties in the first 14 points before Millersville took the lead and went up by as many as four, 14-10, and forced the Golden Rams to use a timeout. After the break, West Chester scored four straight to knot up the score and the Marauders called a timeout of their own. Millersville ended the stanza with an 11-6 run and were on top by five points when the period was all said and done.
The Marauders held the lead in the fourth set until the Golden Rams were able to tie the score up at 7-7. That tie came in the midst of an 8-1 run for visitors who were ahead 13-8. Millersville wasn't done though as it scored five straight to knot the score up again, 13-13. Three of those points came off of
Katie Lesinski kills. West Chester took the lead again and had it until the Marauders fought back and the score was 23-23. However, the Golden Rams took the final two points and the match three sets to one.
Lesinski led the offense with 12 kills and
Kayla Wallace turned in 10 while
Victoria Biggins registered 38 assists. Defensively, three Marauders dug out double-digit attempts including
Brooklyn Smith (20), Lesinski (15) and Biggins (10). Above the net,
Mary Paul had three solo blocks and four assisted while
Stephanie Kovacs assited in five block attempts.
Tuesday, Millersville welcomes Shippensburg in a home affair beginning at 7 p.m.
