MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Millersville University volleyball team suffered their first home-court loss of the season, falling in four sets to the Goldey-Beacom College Lightning. Set scores were 25-21, 22-25, 16-25, 15-25.
 
Millersville (3-2) finished the match with a .146 hitting percentage, while Goldey-Beacom (2-3) posted a .191 mark. The Marauders totaled 61 points across four sets, recording 47 kills, six service aces, and eight blocks at the net.
 
Trinity Baldwin paced the offense with 30 assists, setting up key kills from Taylor Welter, Caroline Halsey, and Sam White. Kylee Schurig added pressure from the service line with three aces, while White and Halsey anchored the defense, combining for five blocks at the net. In the back court, Becca Hartranft led the defensive with 18 digs, while Baldwin and Makenzie Muscarello each added 11.
 
The Marauders fell behind early, trailing 4-1 after four straight points from the Lightning. They continued to chase until Addy Van Oosten tied the set at nine. From there, the teams traded points until Schurig delivered back-to-back scores, giving Millersville a three-point lead. The Marauders maintained their momentum, capitalizing on Goldey-Beacom errors and key kills from Halsey and White to secure the first set.

Goldey-Beacom sparked their offense early in the second set, opening with a 6-3 lead. A series of Lightning errors allowed Millersville to close the gap to just one, but a 6-0 run by Goldey-Beacom pushed the deficit to seven. Trailing 24-17, the Marauders showed resilience by fending off five set points, fueled by kills from Amanda Protzman, Halsey, and Schurig. However, the rally came to an end on a ball-handling error, giving the Lightning the set and evening the match at one apiece.
 
The third set began as a tightly contested battle, with Millersville and Goldey-Beacom trading points early. However, with the Lightning holding a narrow 7-6 lead, they seized momentum with a seven-point scoring run after a Marauder injury. The Marauders struggled to recover from the deficit and were unable to regain control, ultimately dropping the set and falling behind 2-1 in the match.
 
Millersville found themselves in an early hole in the fourth set, trailing 8-2. A 5-1 scoring run gave the Marauders a spark of momentum, but costly errors down the stretch halted their comeback efforts. Unable to close the gap, Millersville dropped the set and the match, falling 3-1 to the Lightning.
 
In the locker room, head coach Brian Smith talked to his team about the loss. "It was tough," he stated, "we started out playing pretty well, but then struggled, but young teams will do that… We have to improve our volleyball IQ or our mental toughness and be coachable. If we can start to do those things collectively as a team, we can continue to improve and keep our eyes focused on getting better before we get into conference play."
 
The Marauders' next match is Friday, Sept. 12^th when they travel to Colorado Springs for the Mountain Lion Classic tournament. They will play two matches on Friday (11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.) and two matches on Saturday (9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.).