KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown women's volleyball is under a new regime in 2025 and it played with extra juice and motivation Friday night in its home and season opener. KU responded from an opening set loss to take the next set in dramatic fashion and was within just a few points in each of the next two sets, but ultimately dropped them in the end, falling in four sets against Chestnut Hill in non-conference action from Keystone Arena.
Scores of the match were 23-25, 32-30, 23-25, 20-25.
The Golden Bears (0-1 overall) were in every match and looked like a completely different team from last season. They were involved in deep rallies and plenty of celebratory points during the four sets.
Freshman
Madilyn Bogovic (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) led the attack with 11 kills and completed the double-double with a team-best 18 digs, shining in her collegiate opener, seemingly in on every rally. She also finished with a high of five service aces.
Grace White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) tallied seven kills and four blocks.
Lauren Montgomery (Norristown, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) recorded six kills and five digs.
Madison Lowe (Kearneysville, W. Va./Jefferson) notched five kills, seven digs and three aces.
Macy Shewmake (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) had four kills and three blocks.
Emma Baldridge (Damascus, Md./Damascus) also finished with a double-double with 17 assists and 13 digs, while fellow setter
Alice Frank (Allentown, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) was just shy with 11 assists and nine digs.
Saige Thibodeaux (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida S. Baker) contributed 10 digs and
Mallory Hoch (Zionsville, Pa./Southern Lehigh) added seven digs.
After falling just short in the opening set, the Maroon and Gold regrouped and found some energy behind the home crowd, which they needed every last bit of it, exuding a ton of energy in a set that finished with 62 points. In that set, KU found itself behind 24-21, but rallied to score three in-a-row and then another when it was down 25-24. The two teams traded points for a long series until Kutztown did what needed to be done and scored two straight as White earned a kill to break the 30-30 deadlock and then an error by the Griffins tied up the match.
Chestnut Hill bounced back in a big way, scoring the first six points of the third set and nine of 12 to take a large lead early on. The Golden Bears actually rallied and took a 14-13 lead, but that was the last time they would be ahead. In the fourth set, it was back-and-forth for the first 20 points until the Griffins took a 13-12 deficit and turned it around with four straight points and nine of the next 10 to take control. KU was never able to get closer than four the rest of the way.
Kutztown has a quick turnaround and will look to bounce back when it travels to Philadelphia Saturday for a tri-match at Holy Family. KU takes on Lincoln at 1 p.m., and then the host Tigers at 3 p.m.
