KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown women's volleyball opened up play in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division Friday night and hosted the preseason's top-ranked team, East Stroudsburg. KU was unable to get anything going the first two sets and then fell just short in the third set as the Warriors won in straight sets by scores of 12-25, 12-25 and 23-25 inside Keystone Arena.
The Golden Bears (6-6 overall, 0-1 PSAC East), who were picked fifth in the East's preseason poll, found themselves in a hole early in both the first and second sets, one which they could not climb out of. The Warriors (6-5, 1-0) led from start to finish in both sets, scoring seven of the first eight points in the opener and then eight of the first 10 in the second stanza and continued their scoring spree until the end.
The third set was a lot closer and was back-and-forth throughout. There were nine ties and six lead changes. ESU recorded the first point of the set, but KU answered with two straight to take its first lead of the night. Neither team held an advantage greater than two points until the Maroon and Gold went on top 22-19 and then 23-20, but the Warriors wanted to finish off the sweep and rallied to net five points in-a-row to end the match.
East Stroudsburg limited its errors, finishing with just six all match, compared to Kutztown's 20. ESU also had a .317 hit percentage to KU's .112.
Sadie Doss (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) finished with 16 kills and 16 digs, while
Gabriela Fialova (Ledec nad Sazavou, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium Ludvika Danka) also recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs.
Cat Farole (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) tallied 28 assists and four digs.
Alexa Feorene (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) ended in double-figures in digs with 10.
Kutztown is back out on the court less than 24 hours later as it hosts Lincoln in a non-conference match at 1 p.m., from Keystone Arena.
