WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Millersville's three-set sweep of West Chester Tuesday night was the perfect conclusion to a grueling road trip that saw the Marauders play four conference road matches in six days. Against the Rams, the Marauders starting quickly, overcame some errors in set two and rolled in set three to open PSAC Southeast divisional play with a win, 25-11, 27-25, 25-18.
Millersville (15-6, 5-3 PSAC) completed its road trip 2-2 while scoring its first win at West Chester since 2014. The loss sent the Golden Rams to 13-8 (1-7 PSAC).
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• The Marauders did not look like a team that had been on the road for nearly six-straight days. They recorded 15 kills to just one error, posting a .389 hitting percentage in the opening set. With
Chyna Gubbings serving, Millersville scored 11 consecutive points for an 11-1 lead--a run that included three kills from
Jayci Suseland, three kills from
Carley Baughman and two aces from Gubbings.
• Millersville wasn't as efficient in set two, committing eight hitting errors four service errors, but West Chester couldn't close out the set as it committed an attack error with the score 24-22. That small opening was all the Marauders needed.
Haley Butler staved off back-to-back set point opportunity for West Chester with kills. With the score tied at 25, a set error and attack error by West Chester clinched the 2-0 set win for the Marauders.
• Millersville never trailed in the third set. It was a one-point set at 14-13, but Millersville scored on six of the next seven rallies and continued to pull away, closing the match with an ace from
Katie Laughman. Millersville totaled five aces and 14 kills in the set.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Millersville totaled 47 kills to West Chester's 27 and out-hit the home team .256 to .131. Millersville finished with eight aces.
• Blevins led the Marauders with 15 kills to four errors and added eight digs, three aces and two block assists.
• Gubbings and
Carley Baughman evenly split 14 kills. Gubbings added three aces while Baughman added two block assists.
• Setter
Katie Laughman totaled 37 aces and 14 digs for her team-leading 16th double-double of the season.
COACH BRIAN SMITH'S THOUGHTS
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On closing out the road swing with a win: "That was a good bounce back against a rival and travel partner. We started well with serving and passing and dominated the first game. West Chester didn't give up. They fought back. We made some errors in the second set at bad times but we were able to fight back and win in the second. We took care of business in the third set."
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On sweeping a rival: "We've been competing with West Chester and splitting with them the last few years. I thought it was crucial for us to win in three. There are a lot of things happening around the conference, in our pod, and how teams are doing against different opponents. Your performance in each match matters."
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On Blevins' performance: "She played well. She was consistent in passing as well. Down the stretch in the third stretch she made some really good shot selections and found different ways to score."
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On contributions from Gubbings and Baughman: "Chyna is starting to embrace the position. With her and Carley, they scored well and did a good job with net defense. We talked about this for several weeks that (blocking) is something we need to improve upon, and they are putting in the work. It's nice to see it paying off."
NOTES
• Millersville pulled within one win of even in the all-time series with West Chester, now trailing just 30-29.
• Tuesday's match marked Millersville's first 3-0 win over West Chester since 2014.
• Millersville has recorded at least six aces in seven consecutive matches.
• Blevins' 15 kills pulled her to within one of 900 career kills.
UP NEXT
• Millersville returns home for on Friday, Oct. 18 to face Clarion, and then hosts Slippery Rock on Saturday, Oct. 19.
