EAST STROUDSBURG – The East Stroudsburg University volleyball team maintained its lead in the PSAC East with a convincing 3-1 victory over West Chester on Friday night inside Koehler Fieldhouse. The set scores were 26-24, 21-25, 25-15, 25-8.
ESU improves to 11-8 overall and 5-1 in conference play, while the Golden Rams (13-5, 3-3) drop their fourth consecutive match.
The Warriors hosted their second annual Soles4Souls match which is a non-profit organization that turns unwanted shoes and clothing into opportunity, by keeping them from going to waste and putting them to good use – providing relief, creating jobs and empowering people to break the cycle of poverty.
Fans are encouraged to bring a pair of shoes to the various donation boxes set up around well campus through the end of the month as well as to Saturday's match against Millersville at 4 p.m. for free admission.
Notables vs. West Chester
- The Warriors had four different players record double figures in kills, led by Claire Choloux with 14, while the junior added seven digs, four blocks and two aces
- Junior Kaylee LoPresto tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 10 digs
- Anna Coulter continues to impress in her first season as the freshman had 11 kills, three digs, three blocks and an ace
- Sydney Stone is rounding into form following an injury to open the season, as the junior notched a double-double on 10 kills and 18 digs
- Sophomore Makaela McComas finished just shy of a double-double with 25 assists and eight digs to go along with a trio of aces
- Junior Makayla Baca recorded a season-high 31 digs while adding four assists and aces a piece
- Freshman Sydney Lewellin was also in double figures for assists with 21
- ESU (55 kills, 15 errors) held a significant advantage over the Golden Rams (40 kills, 27 errors) in attack percentage, .274 to .085. The Warriors hit .361 and .375 respectively over the final two sets
- ESU made their presence felt at the net, notching a season-high 19 blocks compared to seven for West Chester, while also holding the edge in aces, 11-6
How it Happened vs. West Chester
- With the Warriors leading 5-4 early in the opening set, West Chester rattled off a 5-0 run to go ahead 9-5. The Golden Rams maintained their edge at 14-9 before an ESU timeout helped spark a run as the Warriors went a 5-0 spurt to pull within one at 15-14. The teams would go on to trade the next several points with ESU ultimately tying it up at 20-20, but not before West Chester went back up, 23-21. With the Golden Rams looking to close out the set ahead 24-23, the Warriors used a pair of kills and an attack error to earn a 26-24 victory in the first frame.
- West Chester raced out to a 10-3 lead in the second set and pushed their advantage to 14-5, before the Warriors used a 5-0 run to make the score 14-10. Out of a West Chester timeout, the Golden Rams held an eight-point lead at 19-11, but not until an 8-1 spurt by ESU helped cut their deficit to 20-19. However, the Golden Rams found their footing out of another stoppage, scoring five of the next seven points to secure a 25-21 set two win, which made the match 1-1.
- With the score tied at 6-6 early in the third set, the Warriors took advantage of three errors by West Chester and an ace to grab a 10-6 lead. The Golden Rams would pull within two at 12-10, but ESU would go ahead and push their advantage to 17-12. Out of a timeout, it was all ESU the rest of the way as the Warriors outscored West Chester, 8-3, to capture the set, 25-15, for a 2-1 lead.
- The Warriors carried their momentum over in the final set, jumping out in front 6-1 and 14-5 which forced the Golden Rams to burn both of their timeouts. ESU kept their foot on the gas by using an 8-1 run to stretch their lead to 22-6, before ultimately closing out West Chester, 25-8, for a 3-1 victory.
Up Next
- The Warriors welcome the Marauders to Koehler Fieldhouse tomorrow afternoon with first serve set for 4 p.m.
