The Shippensburg University volleyball team secured their third win of the season with a sweep of Chowan University at their home tournament on Thursday night. Set scores were 25-13, 25-16, and 28-26.
Junior Maddie Clabaugh (Gettysburg, Pa./Delone Catholic) led Shippensburg (3-2) with a team-high of 11 kills as well as eight digs and a block. Freshman Gracen Nutt (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg Area) had a strong night with seven kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
Sophomore, and reigning PSAC East Athlete of the Week, Kearstin Davis (San Antonio, Tex./Reagan) and freshman Shay Kolivoski (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern) posted similarly strong performances, each finishing with 13 digs and two services aces. Davis further contributed 33 assists. Freshman Hailey Cappleman (Winter Garden, Fla./Horizon) contributed an all-around effort of a team-high three blocks, four kills, and a .400 hitting percentage.
The Raiders jumped out to an easy 7-0 lead in the first set and never looked back. With 17 kills and a .400 hitting percentage, SU comfortably overpowered Chowan’s (0-4) -.063 hitting percentage and eight errors.
The Hawks trailed a little closer to the Raiders to open the second set, but SU quickly pulled away once again with a 12-4 run to close the set. The Raiders outmatched Chowan in kills 12-to-7 within that frame.
In the third set, Shippensburg found itself at its first deficit of the night, down 10-9. From there, it was a back-and-forth affair involving nine different tie scores. Knotted up for the final time at 26-26, a kill from Cappleman set up the first and only match point of the night. The victory was secured on a shared block between senior Kaitlyn Townsend (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) and junior Kat Negron (Longwood, Fla./Lyman).
The Raiders continue at the Chowan Tournament tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. against Elizabeth City State, followed by an afternoon match at 1 p.m. against Catawba.
