Kutztown University Athletics

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Kutztown University women's volleyball ran its season-opening winning streak to three matches with a 3-0 victory over Pitt-Johnstown before suffering a 3-0 defeat against a tough Lewis side to wrap up play at the D'Youville University Tournament, Saturday.
 
The Golden Bears' 3-0 start with three consecutive sweeps matched the program's best start since 2018.
 
KUTZTOWN 3, PITT-JOHNSTOWN 0
25-18, 25-23, 25-18
 
Madilyn Bogovic (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) and Paige Skinner (Placerville, Calif./Ponderosa) recorded their first double-doubles of the season and Kutztown hit a solid .265 (44 kills-13 errors-117 attempts) to knock off PSAC West opponent Pitt-Johnstown in the first meeting between the teams since 2021.
 
Bogovic supplied a match-high 16 kills and 13 digs, and Skinner had 13 kills and 10 digs for the Golden Bears (3-0) in the win. KU racked up 60 digs and finished with four players in double figures, including Saige Thibodeaux (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida S. Baker), who had a match-high 14 and Mallory Hoch (Zionsville, Pa./Southern Lehigh) with 10.
 
Kutztown quickly overcame a five-point deficit to open the match with a 5-0 run of its own. Ellie White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) gave the Bears their first lead of the afternoon, 9-8, with an ace. KU broke away from a 16-all deadlock with a 7-1 surge and went on to a 25-18 win. Grace White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) had two blocks (one solo) and Jaedyn Bartholomew (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Blue Mountain) had a kill and a block in the run. Bogovic, Skinner, Bartholomew and Grace White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) each recorded three kills to account for all 12 by the Bears in the first set.
 
The offense ran through Bogovic during a back-and-forth second set that saw the lead swap hands eight times. The talented sophomore outside hitter put up seven kills on 11 attempts, including two late that helped set up Grace White's (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) set-clinching kill for a 25-23 victory.
 
KU fell into another five-point hole against the Mountain Cats early in the set but ended the match by scoring 12 of the final 15 points. Bogovic and Skinner each totaled six kills without an error, and the Golden Bears hit a match-high .371 (15-2-35) to secure the sweep.
 
Emma Baldridge (Damascus, Md./Damascus) assisted on 24 kills and Abby Polo (Coventry, Conn./Coventry) 14. Grace White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) collected eight kills and four blocks.
 
Caroline Knight had 11 kills and 10 digs to pace Pitt-Johnstown (2-2).
 
LEWIS 3, KUTZTOWN 0
25-19, 25-15, 26-24
 
Kutztown's unblemished run to open 2026 came to a halt in the final match of the weekend as Lewis out of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) denied Kutztown's third-set bid to extend the match and capture a 3-0 win over the Maroon and Gold.
 
Bogovic (12) and Skinner (11) combined for 23 of KU's 37 kills. The Golden Bears attacked at a respectable .242 rate (37-14-95) but unbeaten Lewis (4-0) did not commit an attacking error in the second set and collected 12 aces.
                                                                                                                                                                     
KU gained the lead three times in the first and were within 18-17 when the Flyers took advantage of four Golden Bear errors, a pair of kills and an ace to put away the set, 25-19.
 
Lewis led wire-to-wire in the second, winning 25-15 behind 15 kills, a match-high .517 hitting percentage (15-0-29) and five aces. Marin Grossman, who equaled Bogovic with a match-high 12 kills, had five in the set, while teammate Lauren Buxton added four kills and three aces.
 
Bogovic put up six kills, Skinner four and Ellie White (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) three and three blocks as Kutztown brought its best in the third with a .289 hitting percentage (15-4-38). The Bears had set point at 24-23 following a Skinner kill set up by Polo, but the Flyers answered with kills from Hadley Rogge and Hannah Dietzenbach followed by a KU attacking error to score the final three points and prevail, 26-24, for the sweep.
 
Thibodeaux had a team-leading 13 digs for KU. Baldridge (16) and Polo (14) finished with double-digit assists for the second time, Saturday, while Bogovic (12 kills, 9 digs) and Skinner (11 kills, 8 digs) just missed out on their second double-doubles of the day.
 
UP NEXT
Kutztown opens its home schedule this coming Tuesday, Sept. 1, against Goldey-Beacom at 6:30 p.m. The Golden Bears will play all their home matches at Brandywine Heights High School in Mertztown, Pa., this fall with Keystone Hall under renovation.

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