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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's volleyball team kicked off its 2018 season with a 3-0 defeat of the New York Institute of Technology on Thursday night in its first match of the KU Classic at Keystone Arena.
 
KU, led by head coach John Gump, delivered a statement victory in its first match of the 2018 campaign, sweeping NYIT, a side which has advanced to the NCAA Tournament each of the past three seasons. 
 
The outside hitting duo of Holly Owen (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and Brittney Moyer (Orwigsburg, Pa./Blue Mountain (Lock Haven)) delivered much of the Golden Bears' offensive firepower, posting 13 and 12 kills, respectively. As a team, KU totaled 40 combined kills, hitting at a solid .204 clip in the match, while holding NYIT to a .109 attack percentage. 
 
Amanda Meck (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood Area) and Abbey James (York, Pa./West York Area) totaled 34 assists and libero Sydney Wilson (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) led the way with a team-high 21 digs. 
 
After Kutztown raced out to a 4-1 advantage to begin the match, the Bears of NYIT quickly leveled the first set at 4-all, setting the scene for a back-and-forth opening frame. As the set progressed, both sides continued to trade points with a Lilly Charlton (Landenberg, Pa./Avon Grove) kill evening the score at 19-19 late in set one. 
 
NYIT ripped off the next two points, however, taking a 21-19 lead which prompted a timeout from Gump and his coaching staff. A resilient Golden Bear squad clawed its way back after the break in action, scoring five straight points which included two Owen kills to pull ahead 24-21.
 
A Bear kill stopped the run, but only momentarily, as Owen put the exclamation point on a first set victory in favor of KU, 25-22. 
 
The Golden Bears then rode this momentum into the second set, scoring nine of the first 12 tallies, capped by a Niki Carpenter (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion Area) kill to take a commanding 9-3 lead. KU maintained its early advantage to the 21-14 mark in set two, but NYIT would not go down without a fight.
 
Four straight points for the Bears made the score 21-18 before back-to-back kills from Erin Patterson (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) and Moyer gave KU some room to breathe once again. Moyer finished off the 25-19 victory in set two a short time later with a kill to put her team in front, 2-0. 
 
Set three, much like the opening frame, was extremely competitive from the outset with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage for much of the set. NYIT pulled ahead late with two straight tallies to go in front, 23-20, pushing to extend the match to a fourth set.
 
Kutztown, however, had other ideas, putting a bow on its season-opening sweep of the Bears with five straight points to claim set three, 25-23. 
 
Jessica Howe (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg Area) totaled seven kills with Carpenter and Patterson adding four and three, respectively. Moyer finished with a double-double, adding 11 digs to her 12-kill performance. 
 
KU takes the court once again tomorrow as it continues the KU Classic, facing off with Salem University at 10:30 a.m. before taking on Goldey-Beacom College at 5 p.m. 
 
Live stats will be available via www.kubears.com.