MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The last time the Millersville University women's volleyball program hit the 20-win mark in a season was in November of 1997.
Haley Butler, the oldest player on Millersville's 2019 roster, was born one month later. On Saturday in Pucillo Gymnasium, the Marauders accomplished the feat again, winning their 20th match of the season with a sweep of Lock Haven (25-21, 25-17, 25-17).
Millersville's record jumps to 20-7 (10-4 PSAC) with the win, and is now just one match back of Shepherd for second place in the Southeast Division and the No. 4 overall seed in the PSAC.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Millersville, the PSAC's leader in team hitting percentage, out-hit the Bald Eagles .259 to .048. Lock Haven posted 27 kills to 21 errors while Millersville totaled 38 kills to 10 errors.
• The Marauders overcame a sluggish start and a uncharacteristic 11 service errors.
Lindsey Blevins and
Jayci Suseland were the lone Marauders to hit double figures in kills--both finishing with 11.
• Seven of those service errors came in the first set, allowing Lock Haven to hang around late. The Marauders led by a 23-21 advantage before a Lock Haven service error and a
Katie Laughman kill closed out the Marauder win. Millersville's struggles continued early in the second, falling behind 4-1 before a timeout righted the ship. Millersville responded by scoring two in a row on kills from
Chyna Gubbings and Suseland and eventually took the lead for good at 10-9 on a kill from Blevins. After trailing 9-7, Millersville out-scored Lock Haven 18-8.
• The third set was again closely-contested early. But with the score tied at 12-12, Millersville ran off eight unanswered points--a stretch that included seven total Marauder kills and four from Blevins.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
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Kat Forry led Millersville with 17 digs and
Emily Hoffman added 12.
Chyna Gubbings led the team with two service aces.
Katie Laughman totaled 30 assists and eight digs.
COACH BRIAN SMITH'S THOUGHTS
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On earning the team's 20th win of the season: "One of our goals coming into this season was to get to 20 wins. I think 20 wins is significant because we haven't done it since 1997. It speaks to the quality of the team and the progress of the program. I am more impressed with 21 wins in a row at home. We are comfortable at home. That's a pretty impressive streak to have. As we get into the last five matches, three of them are at home, and they are against significant opponents, so that will be to our advantage."
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On today's performance: "We were a little sloppy today. Our passing was way below our average. It is difficult to get up for a team that is 0-13 in the league. We talked about fighting that tendency all week. I don't think we played a strong as we could. The team was confident and relaxed, which they need to be, but they also have to stay focused."
NOTES
• It is just the fourth time in program history that Millersville has reached 20 wins (1994, 1995, 1997). The program record is 24, which was accomplished in 1995 and 1997.
• Saturday's win was the 21st consecutive home win for the team. Eight of the 11 this season have come in straight sets.
• While Millersville is 15-30 all-time against Lock Haven, it was has won three in a row and five of the last six.
UP NEXT
• Millersville hits the road for its final two regular season road matches on Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9. The first stop is at PSAC Central Division-leading East Stroudsburg.
