The Shippensburg University volleyball team posted a convincing sweep of Lock Haven on Tuesday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Quarterfinal at Heiges Field House. Set scores were 25-14, 25-9 and 25-13.
Shippensburg (23-8), as the highest remaining Eastern Division seed, will now host the PSAC Final Four this weekend at Heiges Field House. In Friday’s semifinals, Western Division No. 1 seed Gannon will face Eastern Division No. 2 seed East Stroudsburg at 5 p.m., while SU will host Western Division No. 2 seed Clarion at 7:30 p.m.
The Raiders were efficient all night, hitting .300 and committing just eight attack errors. Freshman Gracen Nutt (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg Area) led all athletes with 10 kills and hit .308. Senior Kaitlyn Townsend (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) had seven kills, five blocks and hit .545, while junior Maddie Clabaugh (Gettysburg, Pa./Delone Catholic) also provided seven kills, totaled four blocks and hit .250.
Freshman Hailey Cappleman (Winter Garden, Fla./Horizon) posted six kills and three total blocks while junior Kat Negron (Longwood, Fla./Lyman) had five kills. Sophomore Kearstin Davis (San Antonio, Tex./Reagan) had 27 assists for the Raiders.
SU, the conference leader in service aces, added 13 more Tuesday night. It is the 14th time this season that the Raiders have served 10 or more aces in a match. Negron had five aces, while Davis and Clabaugh each added three.
After a back and forth start, Shippensburg used a six-point service run by Davis to take a 17-8 lead. SU hit .265 in the first set 13 kills and five aces.
The second set began with Townsend contributing to blocks on two of the first three points. Ahead 7-4, junior Emily Gardner (Avon, Ohio/Avon) went on a 5–0 service run to make it 12-4. Shippensburg continued to find scoring runs throughout the set, including a four-point run by Davis. SU hit .393, slamming 12 kills to just one error, while LHU hit in the negative with eight errors.
Both sides traded the first four points of the third set until the Raiders went on a 4-0 scoring run with Gardner serving. Down four points, Lock Haven found some momentum to bring it back to 10-9. After an attack error, Negron then unleashed a 10-point service run that included three aces and two kills each from Townsend, Nutt and Clabaugh to make the score 21-9.
Shippensburg is hosting the PSAC Semifinals and the PSAC Championship match for the first time in 10 years. SU last hosted a semifinal in 2013, falling in four sets to California (Pa.).
More information about this weekend will be posted to shipraiders.com and psacsports.org when available.
