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SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's volleyball team featured four attackers with double-digit kills and the defense recorded 103 digs as the Golden Bears traveled to Shippensburg University Friday night for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division contest, coming out with a 3-1 triumph from Heiges Field House.
 
Up 2-1 and trailing the majority of the fourth set, the Golden Bears put in a valiant effort to retake the momentum. Down 17-20, KU worked back with a 6-0 run to put the Raiders on their heels. Ship called a timeout to re-collect, resulting in two-straight kills to bring the score to 23-22 in favor of the away team. Chelsea Braga (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach (Fairleigh Dickinson)) finished things off with a block and a kill to give Kutztown the set and match (25-23).
 
Friday night's victory ends a four-game losing skid against the Raiders (8-9, 2-6 PSAC E) and puts Kutztown (8-6, 3-5) on a three-game winning streak this season.
 
The Golden Bear back line was extremely active in keeping the intense Shippensburg attack held at bay. KU recorded 103 digs on the match, the most in a match since a 118 tally against Millersville in 2010, and the most in a four-set match since a 107 mark back in 2007, also against 'Ville.
 
Libero Madison Brake (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) tied her season high with 23 digs to lead the squad. Anna Conti (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City), Braga, and Emily Kopinski (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) all recorded their second-highest dig outputs this season. Conti ranked second with 18 digs, Braga was next with 17, and Kopinski followed with 16. Carly Shortridge (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) contributed nine, while Danielle Van Buren (Bethlehem, Pa./Saucon Valley) and Kim Groff (Audubon, Pa./Methacton (Moravian)) worked for six each.
 
On offense, Van Buren finished with 12 kills in the match, followed by Audrey Stringer (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury), Braga, and Aly York (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) all tallying 10 kills each. Zandria Zielinski (York, Pa./York Catholic)'s six kills rounded out the total yield for the Golden Bears.
 
Kutztown was 0.5 off its season high with 12 total blocks, led by Van Buren's seven and Zieinski's six. Stringer notched two solo blocks and five total. Conti led the passing attack with 33 assists. Groff notched two service aces, while Braga and Brake tallied one each.
 
In the first set, the Golden Bears opened up the margin with a 7-0 run to go up 20-12. Van Buren got off to a fast start with five kills to give KU the 25-15 win.
 
The Golden Bears found themselves down seven with the Raiders sitting on set point in the second set. KU put together a rallying comeback effort, but Ship took the set 25-21.
 
Kutztown trailed for a split second early on in the third set, but after Stringer fueled a 6-0 run for the Maroon and Gold, KU never looked back on its way to the 25-14 victory.
 
KU remains on the road with another PSAC contest tomorrow, Saturday Oct. 4 at 1 p.m. against Millersville. The two teams split matches last season.