WHEELING, W.Va. – The Kutztown University women's volleyball team got off to a strong start in this weekend's Atlantic Region crossover by taking down Shepherd University in its opening match, 3-1. The Golden Bears were defeated in their second match of the day by Wheeling Jesuit University in straight sets.
In the first match of the day, Kutztown (2-6) dropped the opening set to Shepherd (5-5), 25-16, but then won the final three sets by scores of 25-16, 25-16 and 25-17.
Shepherd led Kutztown throughout the first set and held on to win by scoring the final five points of the set.
In the second set, KU got out to an early 11-5 lead and never looked back. The Golden Bears went on a 5-1 run midway through the set and pushed their advantage to 18-10, which was too much for the Rams to overcome. Kutztown also ended the second set on a 4-1 run.
The third set looked eerily similar to the second, with Kutztown again winning by a score of 25-16. KU got out to a 12-7 lead and battled back and forth with Shepherd until the score was 19-16 in favor of the Golden Bears. Kutztown finished out the set strong with a 6-0 run to take a 2-1 lead.
Kutztown used a 6-0 run near the beginning of the fourth set to give itself a lead that would end up not being relinquished. The 6-0 spurt by KU gave the team a 14-7 lead, which ended up being too much for the Rams to come back from. Shepherd kept the set close, cutting the lead to 19-17, but Kutztown once again finished the set superbly by recording the final six points.
Freshman
Jessica Howe (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg Area) had her best match of the season, recording a team-high and season-best 15 kills.
Audrey Stringer (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) impressed once again with 13 kills, while also recording a team-high six blocks.
Junior
Tori Wakelee (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) recorded 10 kills and seven digs for Kutztown, and
Zandria Zielinski (York, Pa./York Catholic) chipped in with eight kills. Freshman
Shannon Restrepo (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) contributed to the win by recording 23 assists and 13 digs, while
Anna Conti (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) had 13 assists and 14 digs for KU.
Madison Brake (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) led the Golden Bears in digs with 19.
Shepherd had three players record over 10 kills in the match. Taylor Allen had 15 kills, Samantha Scroggins recorded 14 and Grace Simmons finished the match with 11. Kelsey Anderson led the Rams with 20 digs and Allen finished the match with 14. Cyera Dixon recorded a match-high 39 assists in the contest.
In the second match of the day, Kutztown played well in the first set against Wheeling Jesuit (8-3), falling by a score of 25-19. The Golden Bears went back and forth with the Cardinals for the majority of the set, but couldn't turn it into a win. KU was tied 11-11 midway through the set, but then Wheeling Jesuit went on a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 17-11 and didn't look back.
The final two sets of the match were one-sided, with Wheeling Jesuit winning 25-7 and 25-13.
Stringer and Wakelee tied for the team lead with seven kills each in the match. Conti led the team in assists with 12, while Restrepo contributed 10. Conti and Restrepo each recorded a team-high 11 digs.
Wheeling Jesuit had four players with nine or more kills in the match. Kayce Krucki, Mady Smith and Lauran Graves each recorded 10 kills, while Haley Kindall had nine. Krucki led Wheeling Jesuit in digs with 11 and Andrea Thobe had a match-high 44 assists in the contest.
Kutztown heads to West Liberty, W.Va. for two matches on Saturday. The first match for KU will be against West Liberty at 11 a.m. and the final match will be against Fairmont State at 4 p.m.
