KUTZTOWN, PA (September 7, 2010) – The Kutztown University volleyball team passed its first road test by defeating Philadelphia University, 3-1, Tuesday evening. The Golden Bears ran their early season record to 4-0. This is Kutztown's best start to a season since 2006. (BOXSCORE)

The Golden Bears prevailed in four tough matches, 25-23, 23-25, 27-25, 25-17. Kutztown registered 44 kills as a team. The Rams dropped to 1-2 overall.

Cait Hess paced Kutztown with a season-high 14 kills and six blocks. Cali Snell contributed 10 kills and five blocks. Kelsey Nester finished with nine kills. Katie Lutz had a team high eight blocks and Brianna Risch added seven blocks. Kutztown had 32 blocks overall.

As usual, setting up the heavy hitters was the sophomore tandem of Dana Wright and Kimberlee Gomber. Wright had a game-high 25 assists and Gomber added 11 helpers. Jamie Celia continued her solid play to begin the season by registering 26 digs. Meanwhile, Lindsey Smith contributed 10 digs

Kutztown has responded to challenges like champions early in the season. The Golden Bears rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat C.W. Post Saturday. Against, the host Rams, they trailed 3-0 to begin the third game before fighting back to win the match, 27-25. The Golden Bears closed out the game by winning the final three points after trailing, 25-24.

“There were moments tonight when we did some very good things, but not as consistently as we will need to in order to reach our goals as a team,” Kutztown volleyball head coach John Gump said. “The bottom line is we got a win without playing as well as we can. While I think that's the sign of a good team, it's not a theory I want to test often.”

Kutztown returns to action Friday afternoon when it competes in the West Chester University Ram Fest. The Golden Bears will meet C.W. Post at 3 p.m. and New York Institute of Technology at 5 p.m.

--KU--