KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's volleyball team heads to Shepherd University for a two-day tournament beginning on Friday Sept. 13 to compete in the Mountain East / PSAC Crossover Tournament.
 
The Golden Bears (2-2) begin the two-day Mountain East/PSAC Crossover Tournament with an 8 p.m. match against Shepherd University Friday, Sept. 13, followed by two matches Saturday, Sept. 14, against West Virginia State University at 11 a.m. and then Fairmont State University  at 5 p.m.

The Golden Bears enter the tournament off a 3-0 sweep over Davis & Elkins College, putting an end to their prior two-match skid.
 
"Last weekend was a great way to start our season," freshman setter Anna Conti (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) said, reflecting on the Kutztown Classic. "I think it helped prepare us for not only this weekend, but for the conference schedule and the rest of our season."
 
Following a 3-1 victory over Philadelphia University in the season-opener, the Golden Bears fell in a thrilling five-set match to Caldwell College and then to Southern New Hampshire University in straight sets, before taking back a 3-0 win over D&E to complete play in the Kutztown Classic.
 
The Golden Bears demonstrated their hunger for victory in the season-opener against Philadelphia. KU battled the Rams through a close first set but came out on top 25-21. In the second set, the Golden Bears used a 6-0 run to keep the winning advantage at 25-16. KU fell behind after the Rams took a 4-0 lead in the third set, losing 25-20. In the fourth and final set, however, the Golden Bears had three sets of runs totaling five points or more to jump ahead 23-10, to ultimately win the game 25-13.
 
A strong first-set win (25-14) led by Conti building a 20-9 lead was instantly retaliated in the second set fall (25-15) to Caldwell College. The Golden Bears went neck-and-neck with the Cougars through the third set, overcoming a 23-23 tie to win the set 25-23. The Cougars utilized a 10-0 run in the fourth set, however, to beat KU 25-13. In the fifth and final set, both squads fought back and forth, resulting in six different lead changes. Tied at 13-13, each team exchanged points until Caldwell made the final kill, winning the game 16-14.
 
Kutztown battled through three tough sets against Southern New Hampshire, but was unable to take a set, although the Golden Bears remained close on the scoreboard, coming within four or less points each set (25-21, 25-22, 26-24).
 
In the first set against D&E, KU overcame the 5-1 and 7-3 deficit to win the set 25-18. The Golden Bears surged ahead in the second set, taking a 6-1 lead, amounting to a 25-14 victory. In the third and final set, KU's tag team attack of sophomore Audrey Stringer (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) and Conti proved to be too much for the Senators, and the Golden Bears won the game 25-20.
 
"We have had many practices and training sessions to get us ready for the season," Conti said. "As a team I think we started off strong."
 
After the first four matches, Stringer leads KU with a total of 54 kills, including a career-high 16 in the match against Philadelphia. Stringer also leads KU with 19 blocks, seven of which are solo blocks.
 
Also notable up on the net, freshman Liama Goodrich (Birdsboro, PA/Daniel Boone) is second in both kills (39) and blocks (11), recording 12 kills in the match against Caldwell.
 
Conti said the team saw many strengths and some weaknesses over the past four games, and values the learning opportunity to improve as a team for future matches.
 
She has totaled 129 assists leading the Golden Bears as the primary setter, recording a season-high number of assists (44) in the match against Caldwell.
 
With 33 digs, junior Chelsea Braga (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach (Fairleigh Dickinson)) leads KU on the floor, followed by senior Emily Heppler (Newtown Square, PA/Marple Newtown) with 30 digs, and Conti with 28.