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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University volleyball team will take on Slippery Rock University and Edinboro University on Sept. 21-22 in its first two road contests in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play. First serve will be at 7 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
 
KU (6-5, 0-2 PSAC) suffered two tough losses at home in its PSAC opening weekend, falling in straight sets to Mercyhurst and No. 14 Gannon. The Golden Bears will now set their sights on notching their first PSAC victory of 2018 in taking on The Rock and the Fighting Scots this weekend.
 
A big part of that will be the continued consistent play from the outside hitter position for head coach John Gump. Holly Owen (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and Brittney Moyer (Orwigsburg, Pa./Blue Mountain (Lock Haven)) have each eclipsed the 100-kill mark on the season, holding averages of 3.78 kills per set and 2.86 kills per set, respectively. Both are currently on pace to total 300+ kills this season with Owen's 3.78 kills per set average ranking fifth in the PSAC.
 
Amanda Meck (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood Area) and Sarah Williams (Pikesville, Md./Home-School) combined to facilitate the offense this past weekend and can be expected to continue to run KU's '6-2' attack. Meck has totaled double-digit assists in all but one match this season and Williams posted 24 assists last weekend in her first significant collegiate action.
 
Defensively, both Sydney Wilson (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) and Niki Carpenter (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion Area) are among the conference's best thus far. Wilson's 5.30 digs per set average sits sixth in the PSAC with Carpenter's .97 blocks per set also ranking sixth. Carpenter enters the weekend with 282 blocks for her career, just five blocks shy of breaking into the top-10 all-time at KU.
 
Slippery Rock (3-7, 0-2 PSAC) enters Friday night's matchup looking to snap a five-game losing streak as the Rock was defeated 3-1 at West Chester and Millersville to begin its 2018 PSAC slate. Despite its recent struggles, SRU is still a strong and tested team, playing in the traditionally-competitive Northwest Division.
 
The Maroon and Gold will need to find a way to neutralize standout middle hitter Shayla Ray, whose .373 attack percentage is fourth in the PSAC. Ray has posted an attacking percentage of .300 or above in six of Slippery Rock's 10 matches and combined for 20 kills against WCU and Millersville.
 
Kutztown will look to recapture its success from last season against the Rock as KU defeated SRU in four sets on Nov. 4, 2017. In that match, Moyer and Owen each totaled 18 kills with Wilson racking up 29 digs on the backend. The Rock is currently allowing opponents a .202 attacking percentage, last in the PSAC, and attacking at just a .164 clip, 15th in the PSAC. This is an area the Maroon and Gold must take advantage of, limiting its mistakes on the offensive end while relying on its strong defensive presence to thwart the SRU attack.
 
Edinboro (7-5, 0-2 PSAC) also began its conference season with two defeats, dropping two five-set heartbreakers to Millersville and West Chester. KU will be out for vengeance against the Fighting Scots after getting swept at home in 2017. Offensively, the Maroon and Gold struggled against EU, posting just 32 kills while hitting .089.
 
The Fighting Scots' Cierah Jackson led the way on offense with 10 kills against KU and can be expected to be Edinboro's primary option again this season. Jackson was named the PSAC Northwest Division's Athlete of the Week on Sept. 18, totaling 51 kills against WCU and MU, the most-ever in a PSAC weekend in program history. Jackson attacked the ball a school-record 74 times against Millersville and had over half of her team's total kills on the weekend.
 
KU will certainly have Jackson on its mind in this tilt, but should have the understanding that a player of her caliber will produce regardless of any special attention. Instead, the Maroon and Gold would be prudent to focus on shutting down the rest of the Fighting Scot offense with the knowledge that having just one outstanding player rarely wins you the match.  
 
Live stats and video will be available via the links above, which are also accessible via www.kubears.com.