Marauders keep postseason hopes alive with sweep of Raiders

Friday, November 12

Millersville, PA

7:00 PM

Millersville University

11-19,6-8PSAC

Shippensburg

13-15,6-7PSAC

Shippensburg

Millersville

Photo by: Ethan Hulsey

Marauders keep postseason hopes alive with sweep of Raiders

11/12/2021 11:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Andrew Pawling, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – In an effort to keep their postseason hopes alive, the Millersville University volleyball team (11-19) came away with an impressive sweep of the Shippensburg Raiders on Friday night. With a Marauder win and a Raider loss on Saturday, Millersville would qualify for the PSAC Tournament on the final day of the regular season as the fourth seed in the East is still up for grabs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Millersville scored the first two points of the match before a six-point Raider run put the Marauders in an early hole. After a timeout 'Ville was able to battle back, forcing 11 ties over the course of the first set. Tied at 21-21, Millersville rattled off three straight points to take the lead for good and move ahead 1-0 in the match.
The second set started off back and forth with Millersville pulling ahead 15-9 after a six-point run. Shippensburg never got within two, as the Marauders applied consistent pressure throughout the entire set.
Shippensburg looked to be changing the tide in the third set after working to an 11-7 advantage. Millersville, looking for their third sweep of the season, rattled off eight consecutive points for their longest rally of the match, taking a 15-11 lead. The Raiders were able to bounce back and led as late as 23-20 before the Marauders turned it up a notch to force a late set comeback. Three straight attacking errors by Shippensburg forced a 23-23 tie. Facing set point 24-23, Millersville scored three straight to win the set, finishing the sweep on a Kylie Airesman ace.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Lauren Lucas led Millersville with 19 kills. The freshman standout now has 349 kills on the season, good for second in the PSAC.
With nine kills on Saturday, Lucas would tie current Marauder assistant coach Erin Harman for 10^th place in program history for single season kills with 358.
Caitlyn Callahan recorded a match high six blocks, as she continues to pace the PSAC in solo blocks with 51 heading into the regular season finale. Callahan is second in total blocks (125) to Georgia Ohmke of Shepherd who has 144.
Callahan's 51 solo blocks are good for sixth all time in single season program history. She could leapfrog her way into fourth all time, passing Cathy Sipes (54 in 1995) and Rachel Beneski who had 55 in 2006, with a strong performance on Saturday.
Emma Ludwig recorded another 30 assists, as her 981 assists are good for third in the PSAC. With another 19 assists on Saturday, she would become just the eighth Marauder to record a 1,000 assist season.

REACTION FROM HEAD COACH BRIAN SMITH
On the early time out in the first set
"We scored the first two points in set one but then let Ship go on a six-point run. That was all on us for lack of ball control. We called a quick time out to try and hit the reset button."

On the eight-point run in the third set
"We kept constantly talking about good mechanics, from platform passing to blocking disciplined and executing quality serves, in addition to respecting our opponent and not letting them back into the match. We needed to just finish."

NOTES
With a Millersville win and Shippensburg loss on Saturday, the Marauders will clinch a PSAC Tournament Berth on the final day of the regular season. Millersville has a tough task as they will need to upset PSAC East leading Shepherd, while West Chester has to beat Shippensburg to push 'Ville into the postseason.

UP NEXT
Millersville conclude its regular season on Saturday at 1 p.m. against the PSAC East leading Shepherd Rams. Prior to the match, the Marauders will welcome back Lindsey Blevins, Kat Forry, and Courtney Turocy from the class of 2021 to honor the seniors who were unable to compete during their anticipated senior season. Millersville will also honor current senior Maddee Luring in the pre-match ceremony.