KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Holly Owen (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) produced a match-high 28 kills and went over 900 in her Kutztown career, but West Chester, which was three points away from being swept, rallied to win the third set and stunned the Golden Bears by claiming the fourth and fifth sets to pull out a 3-2, PSAC divisional crossover victory Friday night at Keystone Arena.

It was arguably KU's most gut-wrenching defeat of the season. The Golden Bears edged West Chester 25-23 in the opening set behind six kills from Owen, three off the attack of Abby Daniels (Exton, Pa./Great Valley) and two services aces apiece from setters Abbey James (York, Pa./West York Area) and Lexi Morrow (Landisburg, Pa./West Perry). They then cruised to a 25-17 win in the second as Owen did the heavy lifting with 10 kills and just one error on 21 attempts.

Kutztown (9-16, 3-12 PSAC) led by as many as five points in the third and held an advantage for most of the set until two Rachel Robb kills and one from Hailey Lewis pulled the Golden Rams even at 19. Erin Patterson (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) answered with a kill and combined on a block with Lilly Charlton (Landenberg, Pa./Avon Grove) to restore the Maroon and Gold's lead, but it wasn't enough. WCU (17-11, 5-10) closed the set on a 6-1 run with the final two deciding points coming on Golden Bear miscues.

Lewis and Olivia Rudjord had four kills each in the fourth and KU hit in the negative allowing the guests to tie the match with a comfortable 25-18 win.

The Golden Bears led four different times in the final set, but watched a 10-8 lead evaporate when Grace Whitney connected for three straight kills and four in five points, while Mel June served up two aces. West Chester scored the final seven points, unanswered, to take the set 15-10 and the match.

Owen's 28 kills were her second most this season behind a career-high 30 at Slippery Rock on Sept. 27. She finished with 71 attacking attempts and hit .239 on the night while surpassing 20 kills for the seventh time this season.

The Hatboro native also chipped in 10 digs for her fourth double-double this fall. Owen is up to 914 career kills and is poised to set new career-highs in single-season kills and attempts as the regular season winds down.

Patterson had 11 kills, libero Syndey Wilson had 26 digs and James posted a double-double of 21 assists, 10 digs. Charlton added six kills and nine blocks (one solo) for KU, while Daniels and Lauren Jackson (Stafford, Va./Mountain View) each had four kills.

Julia Vreeswyk led the Golden Rams with 15 kills and was joined in double figures by Robb (14) and Whitney (12). WCU hit .178 (60 kills-29 errors-174 attempts) to Kutztown's .155 (54-26-181). Both teams totaled 12 blocks.

Golden Ram setter Emily Ahern paced all players with 41 assists and finished off a double-double with 16 digs. Shaye Whitman collected 20 digs.

Kutztown will try to regroup for Saturday's 1 p.m. home match against Millersville.