EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Playing in its first postseason match in 15 seasons, East Division's fifth seed, Kutztown women's volleyball was unable to record the victory, falling to the East four seed, East Stroudsburg in straight sets Monday night in the PSAC Tournament's First Round match inside Koehler Fieldhouse.
The Golden Bears finish the 2026 season with a 21-11 overall record, the most wins since the 2011 season, the same year they last played in the postseason. Scores of the match were 17-25, 23-25, 19-25, in favor of the Warriors (18-10).
KU struggled this season against ESU, dropping both regular season matches and then this postseason match. The Warriors were able to use their home crowd and took advantage of home court advantage. They had a 45-31 advantage in kills and finished with a .229 hit percentage, compared to the Maroon and Gold's .097.
Kutztown started the match slow, compiling just eight kills in the opening set, with eight errors, and found itself trailing by double digits late, before going on a little rally towards the end of the set. The Golden Bears bounced back and netted three straight points to begin set two behind a kill by
Grace White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) and a service ace from
Julia Riley (Secane, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara). They were ahead 4-1 before the hosts tied it at 4-4. KU led by three four different times and then rallied from down 15-13 to take a 17-16 edge after a Warriors' error. East Stroudsburg, however, scored three unanswered to go up 19-17 and held on from there. Set three saw more of the same as KU held a lead in the middle of the set at 13-11, before ESU rallied and went on an 8-0 run to go in front 19-13 and never looked back, advancing to the quarterfinal round.
White led the attack with nine kills and added three blocks.
Paige Skinner (Placerville, Calif./Ponderosa) finished with eight kills and 12 digs.
Madilyn Bogovic (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) recorded six kills and 10 digs.
Ellie White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) tallied five kills and three blocks.
Abby Polo (Coventry, Conn./Coventry) contributed 16 assists, two kills, two blocks and two digs, and
Emma Baldridge (Damascus, Md./Damascus) added 11 assists and four digs.
Saige Thibodeaux (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida S. Baker) led the defense with 15 digs.
Kutztown will graduate three members of the program, including Skinner,
Kristina Diaz (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) and
Mallory Hoch (Zionsville, Pa./Southern Lehigh). But the majority of the roster, including Monday's lineup, is expected to return to make a deeper run in 2027.
