West Chester, Pennsylvania - The Millersville University women's volleyball team opened its 2016 season Friday with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-18) sweep of Shaw before falling 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-19)  to Philadephia University in the second of two matches at the Rams Fest hosted by West Chester.

Millersville efficient offense was key in the three-set win over Shaw. The Marauders totaled 33 kills with a .338 hitting percentage. The attack was led by juniors Erin Harman and Kelsi Ceriani, who both recorded 11 kills. Ceriani's 11 came on 15 swings and she did not commit an error for a hitting percentage of .733. Grace Dawson tallied 28 assists.

Millersville and Shaw stood tied at 4-4 in the opening set, but Harman took over service and put together a 7-0 run that included three four aces and three in a row. Harman finished the match with a team-high six aces. Millersville raced to an early lead again in the second set, this time with Renee Drawbaugh serving the squad to a 7-1 advantage. Shaw pulled within one at 15-14 on a Tiffany Brooks kill, but Drawbaugh's back-to-back aces gave the Marauders some breathing room. Shaw never came within three the rest of the way. The third set belong to Ceriani, who totaled five kills on six swings.

The four-set loss to Philadelphia was closely contested with a total of 24 tied scores and 12 lead changes in the match. Ceriani hit .348 with 10 kills to two errors. Harman led the team with 18 kills. Freshman Haley Butler hit .476 with 11 kills while committing just one error. Dawson recorded 43 assists for her seventh career 40-assists performance. She also led the team with 14 digs. 

Philadelphia, however, was too much at the net for the Marauders. The Rams totaled 10 blocks to Millersville's three and hit .321 while the Marauders mustered a .197 hitting percentage.

Millersville took the first set after building a 5-0 lead behind two kills from Harman, one from Butler and an ace from Drawbaugh. The Rams battled back to tie the score at 18-18, but with Dawson serving, Millersville ripped off five consecutive points, including two aces from Kara Wirt.

Millersville trailed for the entirety of the second set but pulled within one at 21-20 on a Drawbaugh ace. Philadelphia, however, answered with a kill and scored four of the next points to close the set. Philadelphia stifled the Marauder attack in sets three and four, totaling eight blocks in the two sets. Still, the Marauders were close to extending the match to a deciding fifth set late in the fourth. The Marauders trailed by just one at 18-17, but the Rams scored the next four points, and the Marauders committed three errors to help the Rams win the set, 25-19.

Millersville continues play in West Chester Saturday afternoon with matches against W.Va. Wesleyan and Daemen.