SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- Kutztown volleyball made the long trek down I-81 to Shepherd three days later than expected and tried to make the trip worth their while. The Golden Bears took the PSAC East-leading Rams to a fourth set before falling 3-1 Tuesday night at the Butcher Center.

Shepherd came out hot, scoring six straight points and 14 of the first 17 in the opening set. Kitanna Rakestraw had four kills and Brooke Dunn back-to-back aces during the run that had Kutztown fighting from behind the rest of the way. The Rams (19-3, 8-2 PSAC East) went on to win the set 25-16 behind a match-high .297 hitting percentage (14 kills-3 errors-37 attempts).

It looked like the Golden Bears might turn Shepherd's first-set fortune into its own in the second, when it raced out to a 7-1 lead on kills rom Sophia Basler (Dover, Del./Smyrna) and Lauren Jackson (Stafford, Va./Mountain View), blocks by Jackson and Grace Ingram (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) and an ace from Alexa Feorene (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional).

KU (7-16, 2-8 PSAC East) still held a five-point advantage, 14-9, following a Lexi Morrow (Landisburg, Pa./West Perry) ace, but the Rams slowly picked away at the deficit and went in front for the first time, 19-18, on a Rakestraw kill. The Maroon and Gold got back within 23-22 on a kill by Jackson, but Rakestraw and Mikaylah Hoy answered with back-to-back kills of their own to end the set, 25-22.

Facing a two-set hole, the Bears easily could have rolled over after a hard-fought second, but they continued to grind. Basler had five of her team-high 15 kills and Emma Filipovits (Hanover, Pa./South Western) added three as Kutztown extended the match with a 27-25 win in the fourth. The visitors hit .182 (12-4-44) for the set and took advantage of nine attacking errors by the Rams.

Shepherd cleaned its game up in the fourth, however, answering its worst set by attacking at a .225 clip (14-5-40) to close the match out, 25-17.

Hoy and Rakestraw registered double-doubles for Shepherd, as Hoy went for a match-high 20 kills and 19 digs, while Rakestraw totaled 10 kills and 20 digs. Elyssia Smith also had 10 kills, while Victoria Nicholes posted a match-high 41 assists and Harli Zeitz led all players with 28 digs.

Basler paced the KU offense, followed closely by Jackson with 10 kills and Ingram with six. Both Basler (15 kills, 14 digs) and Morrow (34 assists, 18 digs) posted double-doubles for the Bears. Sydney Wilson (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) had 17 digs, moving within four of 2,100 for her career in the process.

Kutztown makes its long-awaited return to Keystone Arena for the first time in nearly a month this weekend. The Golden Bears welcome Millersville at 7 p.m. Friday and host West Chester for Senior Day Saturday at 1 p.m.