PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Kutztown women's volleyball picked a perfect way to finish off its non-conference portion of its schedule before PSAC play begins, not only with a victory, but a come-from-behind win on the road, rallying from two sets down to defeat Jefferson 3-2 Tuesday night at the Gallagher Athletic Center in Philadelphia.
The Golden Bears are 7-6 overall, riding a two-match win streak heading into conference competition this weekend. Scores of the match were 18-25, 15-25, 25-22, 25-21 and 15-12.
Just as it looked like the Maroon and Gold would be swept out of the gym after the host Rams (5-6) won the opening two sets, Kutztown, as its done throughout the month of September, showed life and rallied to take the next three.
Jefferson was near flawless in the first set, accumulating 14 kills and just one hitting error, for a match-high .325 attack %, and in the second set, KU's offense had a tough time getting going with just eight kills, a match low.
But Kutztown found its rhythm starting in set three, recording a match-best 15 kills and .217 hit %, to get on the scoreboard. KU continued its hot streak into the fourth set, finishing it off with a kill by
Paige Skinner (Placerville, Calif./Ponderosa). In the deciding fifth set, it was more of a defensive battle as KU netted nine kills and only allowed Jefferson six as Skinner once again finished it off with a kill.
Skinner and this week's PSAC East's Athlete of the Week,
Madilyn Bogovic (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), both finished with 16 kills, with the freshman Bogovic tallying a double-double with 17 digs, while adding two service aces.
Alex Haskins (State College, Pa./State College) totaled 11 kills and two blocks.
Emma Baldridge (Damascus, Md./Damascus) recorded 47 assists, 11 digs and three kills.
Saige Thibodeaux (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida S. Baker) contributed 37 digs to lead the defensive effort, while
Grace White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) had two blocks and six kills.
Kutztown will host West Chester on Friday at 6 p.m., for the Morgan's Message match inside Keystone Arena. KU will then welcome Millersville to town Saturday at 4 p.m.
