KUTZTOWN, PA (October 15, 2010) – The Kutztown University women's volleyball team played one of its best matches of the season and defeated Lock Haven University, 3-0, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup Friday night at Keystone Arena. (BOXSCORE)
Through their hard work and perseverance on defense, along with an aggressive offensive attack, the Golden Bears put together a dominating performance over a talented Lock Haven team 25-22, 25-15, and 25-11. With the win, Kutztown (16-7 overall, 6-7 PSAC East) continued its charge towards the postseason and it is now tied with Lock Haven (12-9, 6-6) for first place in the PSAC Eastern Division with six wins.
Kutztown led for the majority of the first set as they held a late 20-15 lead. Lock Haven was then able to go on a 4-1 run which was very short-lived thanks to the willingness of the KU defense to keep every ball in play. Cali Snell had a thunderous game-winning kill off an assist from Dana Wright to end the Bald Eagle comeback. Snell ended the match with 10 kills and five blocks. Wright had a team-leading 20 kills. Starting setter Kimberlee Gomber also added 19 assists for the Golden Bears.
Eyeing 1,000 kills for her career, Lindsay Confer came out aggressive and finishing attacks during the first set. Confer finished the match with 11 kills and just two errors. Confer increased her total kills to 993 for her career as she will have her last chance to achieve the century mark on her home floor Saturday afternoon.
Kutztown jumped out to an early 13-5 lead in the second set, a lead in which it wouldn't give up. Jamie Celia added a service ace late in the second game as well to add to her school-leading total. Celia fought hard on defense all night as she added 23 digs for the Golden Bears. Kutztown would end up winning the second game off a kill from Confer.
By the third game, the Golden Bears made it known they were looking to end the match quickly and deny the Eagles any chance of rallying. KU opened the final set with an 8-0 run, which would be halted by a Lock Haven timeout. During that run, Snell along with Katie Lutz had a pair of blocks for the Golden Bears as their defense on the frontline was commanding all game.
Kutztown extended its lead to 14-1 before head coach Tom Justice took Lock Haven's final timeout. Kutztown won the match in style as junior Lindsey Smith got a service ace for the Golden Bears.
“Our defense really did it for us,” Snell said. “We're a good offensive team when we get it going, but our blocking and our passing led us to victory.”
The trio of Snell, Lutz, and Cait Hess acted as a brick wall, not letting any Lock Haven attacks get past them. Hess added six kills along with two blocks. Hess is second on team to Confer with 165 kills this season.
“It is really fluid playing with Cait and Katie,” said Snell. “We all get along really well both on and off the court, and I think that our blocking reflects that. We have really good communication through the front and back row. Without our defense and the back row, we couldn't do our job up front.”
Also playing well Friday night was junior Erin Kissling. Kissling has played well since moving into the starting rotation for head coach John Gump. Kissling has given the Golden Bears another strong attacker on the offensive side, as well as a defender who is able to track down opponent attacks with ease. Kissling had 11 kills along with 11 digs against Lock Haven.
Snell said it right when commenting on just how great of a win Friday night's game was for the Golden Bears.
“This is one of the best wins we have had so far.”
Friday's victory was Kutztown's first win against Lock Haven since 2007, and you could tell this triumph meant a lot by simply looking at the happiness on the players faces following Smith's match-winning ace. Lock Haven is the defending PSAC Eastern Division champions as they went 32-5 overall and 17-2 against conference opponents in 2009.
“This win gives us an even start now,” said Snell when explaining the importance of Friday's win when looking towards the end of the season. “Except for tomorrow, we are away the rest of the season. So that means we are really going to have to turn it on when we are away, and I think this leads us into the rest of our season and hopefully the playoffs.”
The Golden Bears host East Stroudsburg in their regular season home finale at Keystone Arena Saturday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. Kutztown split its matches with ESU last year by falling 3-0 on the road, and then defeating the Warriors 3-0 at home late in the season.
The Golden Bears will look to improve upon their 7-1 home record with another impressive performance in their push towards the playoffs.
