KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's volleyball team fell in straight sets to the Millersville University Marauders (17-25,22-25,17-25) on Friday night in its first of back-to-back PSAC matches this weekend.
 
Opening the match swinging away, KU recorded three kills in its first five points, one each from Brittney Moyer (Orwigsburg, Pa./Blue Mountain (Lock Haven)), Jessica Howe (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg Area) and Niki Carpenter (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion Area).
 
With the sides tied at five-all, a 7-1 run from the Marauders put them ahead 12-7. The Golden Bears found their offensive form again mid-set as back-to-back Howe kills brought Kutztown within three, trailing 16-13.
 
Millersville extended its lead from this point on, however, defeating the Golden Bears by a final of 25-17 in the first frame.
 
Set two was one-sided early on as the Marauders raced out to a 10-4 margin.
 
Trailing 12-5, the Maroon and Gold showed their resiliency, chipping away at this lead by scoring six of the next seven points to bring the deficit to two.
 
KU mounted another comeback down 20-14 late in the set, using a run of 6-1 which was capped by back-to-back Holly Owen (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) kills to force a Millersville timeout. A critical 4-1 run by the Marauders following the break in action proved to be the difference in set two as MU won, 25-22.
 
After pulling out a tight set two victory, Millersville controlled set three from the outset, going ahead 13-5 to begin the frame. Kutztown fought back to force a Marauder TO down 13-9 following a kill from Abby Daniels (Exton, Pa./Great Valley).
 
The timeout put Millersville back on track in the final frame as they weathered a few late surges from the Golden Bears to complete the set three victory, 25-17, winning the match, 3-0.
 
Owen delivered again for KU at the net, posting a team-high 7.5 points with six kills, two total blocks and a .150 attack percentage in three sets. Howe led the Kutztown offense with 7 kills on 25 attempts.
 
Sydney Wilson (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) racked up 14 digs and Abbey James (York, Pa./West York Area) had a team-high 11 assists in her first career game in PSAC play.
 
The Golden Bears travel to Shippensburg University for a date with the Raiders at 1 p.m. tomorrow.