MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Shepherd Rams came to Pucillo following an win against West Chester, the top team in the PSAC East standings, on Friday night, and carried that momentum into a sweep of Millersville on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Rams (11-6, 3-2 PSAC) have now won each of their last three conference matchups, while Millersville (11-8, 2-3 PSAC) saw its three-match win streak come to a close.

HOW IT HAPPENED
(25-14, 25-20, 25-19)

• Shepherd jumped ahead 11-4 in the first set, rallying nine straight points to take the lead. Another five-point rally, and a sperate stretch of six out of seven points, kept the Rams in sequence and prevented a Marauder comeback. 'Ville recorded just five kills to Shepherds 12.
• The second set featured a back-and-forth start, as Shepherd rallied off the first five points of the match, Millersville scored the next four, and then Shepherd answered with a four-point rally of their own. Both teams recorded match highs in kills, with Shepherd collecting 16 kills to Millersville's 13.  The Marauders kept the set close, getting within striking distance, but Shepherds defense prevented 'Ville from forcing a tie.
• Trailing 16-8 in the third set, the Marauders looked to avoid a sweep and went on their best rally of the match. Millersville scored 11 out of 13 points to take a 19-18 lead, their latest lead in any set. Three kills from Kylie Airesman and a pair of Emily Hoffman aces highlighted the Marauder rally. Shepherd responded by taking the final seven points, closing out the match in dominant fashion.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Rose Vail (7) led the team in kills, while Laurel Samko and Airesman each recorded six kills.
• Rylee Thomas led the Marauders with three blocks.
• Emma Ludwig recorded 21 assists, eclipsing 20 assists for the eighth consecutive match and the 18^th time this season.
• Becca Dalstad (12) led 'Ville in digs while Ludwig had 11.

REACTION FROM HEAD COACH BRIAN SMITH
On the overall match: "We knew this was going to be a tough matchup. They had most of their starters back and healthy and they have the best blocking team in the East in my opinion. We have the smallest group of hitters in the East so play at the net favored them. In set one we lost the pass/serve component and that is always going to be disastrous for a smaller team that relies of running an up-tempo style of offense.  Once we settled down a little, we were able to compete a little better."
 
On the offensive: "You don't win matches when you hit .069. Even when we are winning the ball control segment in matches our hitters have to produce kills. We always talk about at least 12 kills per set as a goal because traditionally that number of kills per set, at 12 or higher, keeps you in the top five teams in the conference in that category and translates to wins. We didn't get anywhere close in set one or three. 
 
On the upcoming road trip: "It's not time to lick our wounds, we have a lot of conference matches left and we knew this is a tough weekend. We came out 1-1 and will get back to work and take this show on the road for a few weeks."
 
UP NEXT

• The Marauders begin a three-match road stand on Friday Oct 7 at Kutztown. First serve is schedule for 7 p.m.