Marauders win at Edinboro for the first time in 24 years

Thursday, October 10

Edinboro, PA

7:00 PM

Millersville University

14-4,2-3PSAC

Edinboro

9-8,3-3PSAC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Millersville	23	25	25	25	3
Edinboro	25	21	20	18	1

Marauders win at Edinboro for the first time in 24 years

10/10/2019 8:01:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

EDINBORO, Pa. - There have already been a lot of first-time-in-a-long-time milestones for the 2019 Millersville women's volleyball team. The Marauders hit another on Thursday night, winning at Edinboro for the first time since 1995. Millersville rallied after a first-set defeat to win 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-18).

Not only was it Millersville's (14-4, 4-1 PSAC) first win at Edinboro (9-8, 3-3 PSAC) in 24 years, it was just the fifth time in 30 tries that the Marauders had beaten Edinboro. Two of those wins have come in the last two seasons, and head coach Brian Smith owns three of those wins. Millersville has now won three in a row and 13 of the last 14 matches.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Jayci Suseland recorded 19 kills to two errors on 33 swings for a .515 hitting percentage, leading a Millersville club that totaled 50 kills and a .269 hitting percentage. Lindsey Blevins totaled for 14 kills, giving the duo 33 of Katie Laughman's 44 assists.
• The Marauders bounced back after a disappointing finish to the first set. Millersville led the opener 23-22, but a ball handling error and back-to-back kills from Cierah Jackson gave Edinboro three consecutive points for the win. The Marauders' fortunes changed mid-way through the second set when a Haley Butler kill started a run of eight Marauder points in nine rallies, and the Marauders went on to total 13 points in 16 rallies for a 21-13 lead. That stretch included six kills from Suseland. Edinboro pulled within 24-21 after scoring four in a row late, but a service error clinched the set for the Marauders.
• The Marauders never trailed in a back-and-forth third set that ended on consecutive kills from Carley Baughman and Lindsey Blevins. Millersville took advantage of nine Edinboro hitting errors and added three of its seven aces in a fourth set where the Marauders never trailed and led by as many as six.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Chyna Gubbings recorded four of the team's seven aces and also added three block assists and four kills.
• Kat Forry led the team with 15 digs.
• Millersville out-hit Edinboro .269 to .164.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH BRIAN SMITH
• On winning the first match of a three-match road trip: "It was good to get a win. It sets the tone for the weekend. Coming out here we felt pretty good about our match-ups and we know we play some tough opponents. We are in the middle of the season where anything we can do to get wins and get separation will play dividends. Getting wins on the road is a big part of that. We don't want to rely on winning at home and hoping other teams lose."
• On serving effectively: "We focus on it in practice. We do it with a purpose. Early in the match we weren't doing such a good job with it, but we have been effective serving it deep and we got back to that and had success."
• On using a variety of shots to score: "This might have been the best match so far that the team has executed what we saw coming in. We did the homework and were able to take that on to the court and execute it. We told our hitters that they could get some shots pushing it down the line and to the back."

NOTES
• The 4-1 start to league play is Millersville's best since 1999 and that came in an era when only matches against PSAC East teams counted toward the conference record.
• Millersville has posted 50 or more kills eight times this season.

UP NEXT
• Millersville's road trip continues Friday with a match at Gannon. It is set to start at 7 p.m.