MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Marauders entered Saturday afternoon hoping to build on a convincing win over Kutztown Friday evening, and that they did; Millersville downed the reigning champions of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's (PSAC) Eastern Division in convincing fashion. The hosts started hot against the Warriors and didn't let up en route to a 3-0 sweep. 

The Marauders leapt out to a 6-0 lead before the Warriors managed to score their first point. Mya Cascario served for five of those points and tallied two service aces in that span; the senior would finish with three on the afternoon, giving her sole possession of 10th in the PSAC with 34. East Stroudsburg would get a couple points back to cut into its deficit but runs of four and five straight Marauder points helped the hosts cruise to a 25-15 win. Four of those points came via an ace, with Kylee Schurig and Madison Von Neida putting home one apiece in addition to the two of Cascario. 

The second game was the closest of the three. Millersville had to battle back from its biggest deficit of the afternoon in that one (five points). After the teams battled evenly for the first 13 rallies, the visitors put together a 5-1 spurt to take an 11-8 lead. That caused a timeout from Millersville head coach Brian Smith, and his team responded by snagging the next two points to bring the match to within one. A 4-0 East Stroudsburg flurry put the Marauders down 15-10, but the hosts responded once more, this time with a 9-2 spurt that gave them control of the game. Millersville allowed the Warriors to make seven errors in that span by being disciplined on the lines. Another Millersville timeout, this time up 22-21, led to a Schurig kill and Cascario's third and final ace of the match. 

The Marauders also faced a deficit in the third set, going down 9-7 early on. At that point, Smith substituted in Elizabeth Villegas for the first time and it was all Millersville from then on out; the hosts won 18 of the next 24 points on the way to a dominant 25-15 victory. The start of that stretch was 5-0 spurt fueled by the Marauder offense, who tallied kills on each of those scores. Schurig had two, Caroline Halsey had two and Taylor Welter had one while Emma Ludwig recorded four assists. Emma Kerwin made her presence felt a few points later, as she had four kills in a span of six Marauder points to put the match away.  

POSTGAME REACTION FROM BRIAN SMITH: 

• On taking advantage of errors: "I think that in a way, the team is kind of growing up a little bit. Obviously, we'll take the points, but we still have to execute the next play.  I think the mindset's changing a little bit and the team is getting a better grasp of just how important every rally is."
• On a successful weekend: "I'm super pleased. It's definitely a good way to turn things around–winning solves a lot of problems. The girls are happier and we're playing with more confidence."

GAME NOTES

• Millersville improves its record in PSAC play to 3-4, giving the team sole possession of fifth place in the Eastern Division. 
• The Marauder's all-time record against the Warriors moves to 26-12  with the victory. Despite meeting twice a year, these two teams haven't played five-set match since Sept. 12, 2008. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Millersville has featured a spread-out attack over the past two matches, as no player has reached double figures in kills. Schurig paced the Marauders in this match with eight total and the team had five players with five to eight. 
• The Warriors came into the day ranked second in the PSAC in hitting percentage, but the Marauders held them to a mark of .053 in the match. East Stroudsburgs's performance this afternoon was quite the dropoff from their sweep of West Chester on Friday night, when they posted their highest hitting percentage in a single match since 2010 (.484). Today's number represented the visitor's lowest of the season. 

UP NEXT:

• The Marauders travel to West Chester to take on the rival Golden Rams on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.