KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's volleyball team opened strong in each of the three sets on Saturday, but struggled to build a rhythm throughout an entire set in a 3-0 defeat by West Chester University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) match at Keystone Arena.
 
Kutztown failed to reach 20 points in any of the sets as the set scores were 25-13, 25-17 and 25-17.
 
Despite Kutztown (3-13, 1-5 PSAC) starting off each set with a close score, the Golden Rams (14-4, 2-4) went on mid-set runs that KU simply could not recover from. Most notably, the Maroon and Gold were leading West Chester 7-5 in the middle of the second set, but West Chester responded with 11 unanswered points to give it the 16-7 lead. It was one of the many displays of West Chester being able to dictate the pace of the match.
 
Jessica Howe (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg Area) and Audrey Stringer (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) led the KU offense in kills with six apiece.  Shannon Restrepo (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) had another complete game with four kills, three blocks, 13 assists and seven digs.
 
Junior Zandria Zielinski (York, Pa./York Catholic) ended the match with a nice defensive output of three blocks. She also added three kills. Madison Brake (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) totaled a team-high 14 digs, while Anna Conti (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) had seven digs as well as five assists. Emily Kopinski (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) contributed two service aces in the contest.
 
The Golden Bears will have a couple days before getting back to action against East Stroudsburg University on Tuesday, Oct. 10.  The match is set to start at 7 p.m. from Keystone Arena.