Millersville, Pa. - Millersville volleyball battled valiently against East Stroudsburg on Friday in a match that saw 31 ties and seven lead changes but the Warriors were able to take the victory in straight sets.
East Stroudsburg (5-11, 1-7 PSAC) defeated the Marauders (8-8, 2-6 PSAC) with set scores of 31-29, 25-22 and 28-26. This decision marked the first time the Warriors have defeated Millersville since Sept. 12, 2008 in East Stroudsburg (3-2). The Warriors also notched their first road victory of the season but still trail the all-time series, 37-19.
The biggest lead that either team held in the first set was five when the Warriors were up 11-6 early in the match. After a timeout by the home team, it reeled off eight of the next nine points to regain the advantage, 14-12. That run was fueled by three kills from
Erin Harman. The teams were neck and neck after that and at one point, they exchanged scoring on 17 consecutive points. However, the visitors took four of the final five points and won the marathon of a first set.
The Marauders opened the second stanza on a 7-2 run that was supported by five East Stroudsburg errors. The Warriors fought back though and eventually tied the score up at 10-10. After a second tie at 11-11, the away team used a small 6-2 fury to take a 17-13 lead. From that point on, Millersville cut the deficit to one just once but East Stroudsburg didn't look back and took the set for a two sets to none lead.
The third set saw four ties in the first 12 points before the Marauders scored the next five points to go up 11-6. East Stroudsburg came back though and tied the set up at 12-12. The stanza included three more ties with the third being 15-15 and a 6-1 run by Millersville put it up 21-16. Again, the Warriors answered by scoring eight of nine to lead 24-22. The Marauders tied it up three more times but East Stroudsburg tallied the final two points to take the set and the match 3-0.
Neither team hit well as Millersville managed a hitting percentage of .059 and the Warriors answered with a clip of just .151. Harman led the offense with 15 kills to just five errors on 48 swings for a .208 percentage while
Victoria Biggins aided the attack with 29 assists. Defensively, three Marauders dug out double-digit attacks including
Brooklyn Smith (19), Harman (15) and
Taylor Smith (10). Above the net,
Kayla Wallace blocked two attacks and assisted in seven more.
Saturday, Millersville remains at home for a 1 p.m. showdown with Kutztown.
