KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's volleyball team will head to the middle of the state this weekend for a two-game road trip to begin competition within the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division. The Golden Bears will square off against the University of Pitt-Johnstown on Friday, Sept. 26, followed by Lock Haven University on Saturday.
 
Kutztown (5-5, 0-4 PSAC) is coming off a tough weekend of PSAC-crossover action where it competed against four traditionally-strong opponents from the Western division of the conference.
 
Pitt-Johnstown (6-3, 2-2) and Lock Haven (7-4, 2-2) currently sit atop of the PSAC East standings, presenting two more challenging contests for the Golden Bears.
 
In its first year as a member of the conference, UPJ worked its way to the end to be crowned the PSAC Champions. Lock Haven was the third seed coming out of the East with a 21-14 conference record.
 
Last season, the Maroon and Gold struggled with UPJ, losing 3-1 and 3-0. Lock Haven swept KU the first time around, but the Golden Bears countered late in the season with a convincing 3-0 win over LHU in the second matchup.
 
Senior Danielle Van Buren (Bethlehem, Pa./Saucon Valley) is coming off a strong weekend where she led KU in kills in each of the four matches. She ranks second overall on the team with 78 kills this season.
 
Junior Audrey Stringers holds the kills lead at 79, and has also been a force on the defensive side.  The middle hitter leads the squad with 30 blocks, including eight solo.
 
Setter Anna Conti (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) is averaging 7.71 assists-per-set and has contributed 106 digs, the second best on the team.
 
Transfer Kim Groff (Audubon, Pa./Methacton (Moravian)) has made an impression thus far as a Golden Bear, especially in last weekend's match against Slippery Rock. The sophomore tallied 28 digs, the most in a three-set match by a Golden Bear since Nicole Biuso recorded 30 in 2007.
 
The Mountain Cats are led by Marissa Erminio's 119 kills and utilize two setters in Nikki Oakes and Nicole Curran to set up the attack. Cody Anderson has recorded 129 kills for the Bald Eagles, while Jessica Brown ranks third in the PSAC with 9.68 assists-per-set.
 
Friday's match will begin at 7 p.m., followed by a quick turnaround to play at Lock Haven on Saturday at 1 p.m.