KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Less than 24 hours after dropping a heartbreaker in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division opening match to West Chester in five sets, Kutztown women's volleyball quickly flipped the page and defeated Millersville in straight sets Saturday evening 3-0 in a PSAC match inside Keystone Arena.
 
It was the first conference victory for the Golden Bears (8-7 overall, 1-1 PSAC) since taking down the Marauders (4-11, 0-3) in straight sets back on Nov. 4, 2023.
 
Scores of the match were 25-14, 25-21, 25-15.
 
A night after the Golden Rams match that saw neither team ever lead by more than four points in either of the five sets, the Maroon and Gold had a little bit of a more comfortable night against Millersville, consistently ahead by more than four for most of the match, outside of some parts of the second set.
 
Kutztown scored the first four points of the opening set and 13 of the first 16 overall as it made quick work of the Marauders to go on top 1-0 in the match.
 
In the second set, Millersville showed more life as the two teams traded points back-and-forth with five ties and two lead changes within the first 20 combined points until KU went on top 10-9 and led the rest of the way.
 
The Golden Bears took care of business in the minimum sets after a grueling match the day before, dispatching of the Marauders after a third set victory. Kutztown trailed 2-0 and then 4-3, but then rallied to score six of the next eight points to take a 9-6 lead and kept its foot on the gas pedal the rest of the way, going on top 14-9 and holding as high of a lead as seven multiple times.
 
This week's PSAC East Athlete of the Week, Madilyn Bogovic (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), paced the offense with 15 kills and completed the double-double with 11 digs. Paige Skinner (Placerville, Calif./Ponderosa) finished with six kills, eight digs and three service aces. Both Grace White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) and Lauren Montgomery (Norristown, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) tallied five kills, with the duo also combining for five blocks. Saige Thibodeaux (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida S. Baker) led the defense with 12 digs and added three assists. Emma Baldridge (Damascus, Md./Damascus) recorded 30 assists, eight digs and two kills.
 
Kutztown hits the road for the first time in conference play this season as it will take on Shepherd next Friday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m., followed by a match at Shippensburg Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

  Read Full Article