WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The Kutztown University women's volleyball team suffered a pair of setbacks on Saturday in matches against West Liberty University and Fairmont State University. KU dropped the first match of the day to West Liberty in four sets, while losing a tough match later in the day against Fairmont State in three sets.
 
In the first match, Kutztown (2-8) was outplayed by West Liberty (4-8) for most of the contest, with the Hilltoppers taking the first two sets with scores of 25-16 and 25-13, before Kutztown fought back for a tightly contested 25-23 win in the third set. West Liberty took the fourth and final set of the match 25-22.
 
Senior Audrey Stringer (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) led the Golden Bears offense with a career-high 24 kills and a team-leading three blocks. Her tremendous offensive effort marked the most kills by a Golden Bear since Lindsay Confer dropped 25 at West Chester in 2009. The school-record for kills in a match is 30 from 2005, held by KU Hall of Famer Sarah Brandon.
 
Freshman Jessica Howe (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg Area) recorded seven kills for KU.
 
Madison Brake (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) posted a season-high 26 digs for Kutztown, while Shannon Restrepo (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) (16) and Emily Kopinski (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) (10) each notched double-digits in digs. Restrepo also led the Golden Bears with 20 assists and Anna Conti (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) chipped in with 16.
 
Stephanie Leonard paced West Liberty with 12 kills, and Sydney Scherer contributed with 10. Courtney Pyeritz led the Hilltoppers with 24 digs and Amanda Leonard recorded 34 assists in the match.
 
In the second match of the day, Kutztown was swept by Fairmont State (6-5) with scores of 27-25, 25-17 and 25-18.
 
Stringer once again led the Golden Bears in kills with 13 and had a team-high seven blocks. She now has seven matches with double-digit kills this season and has recorded 10 or more kills in 22 of her previous 30 matches. Stringer is currently ranked eighth all-time in KU history with 886 kills and ninth all-time with 305 blocks.
 
Junior Tori Wakelee (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) recorded nine kills and eight digs. Zandria Zielinski (York, Pa./York Catholic) chipped in with seven kills for Kutztown.
 
Brake led the defense with 21 digs and Kopinski had the second-highest total with 12. Conti and Restrepo led Kutztown in assists, with 18 and 14, respectively. Freshman Niki Carpenter (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion Area) recorded five blocks.
 
Kaitlyn Witsaman led Fairmont State with 16 kills and Erin Harwood chipped in with 13. Harwood also recorded a match-high 24 digs. Jessica Furda had an impressive 46 assists for the Fighting Falcons.
 
Kutztown's next competition will be on Friday Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. against Indiana (PA) at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover, which will be held at California, Pa. The Golden Bears will face off against four opponents over a two-day span at California University of Pennsylvania and Seton Hill University.