EAST STROUDSBURG – The East Stroudsburg University volleyball team continued its winning ways with a three-set win over Shepherd in a PSAC East match on Saturday afternoon inside Koehler Fieldhouse. The set scores were 25-14, 25-22, 25-23.
The Warriors ripped off their ninth consecutive victory to move to 12-5 on the year and a perfect 5-0 in the conference while the Rams dropped to 8-10 overall and 3-2 in the PSAC East.
During the nine match win-streak, which is the longest since ESU won 10 in a row during the 2021 season, the Warriors have defeated six opponents in straight sets.
Notables vs. Shepherd
- Graduate student Claire Choloux posted a team-high nine kills on a stellar .500 hitting percentage, while senior Kaylee LoPresto added eight kills, eight digs, one assist and one ace
- Sophomore Anna Coulter (two blocks, one assist, one ace) and senior Sydney Stone combined for 11 kills and seven digs
- Sophomore Ava Hunt recorded five kills on an efficient .625 hitting percentage while junior Taylor Haan did a little bit of everything with four kills, 29 assists, eight digs, three aces and three blocks
- With 14 more digs, senior Makayla Baca continued to near 1,000 for her career as she sits at 988. Junior Makaela McComas added 11 digs and a pair of aces.
- Shepherd's Jordan Pryor notched a match-high 10 kills to go along with six digs and Victoria Nicholes totaled four kills, 26 assists, 10 digs and two block assists. Claire Ellis recorded a game-high 17 digs.
- The Warriors finished with the advantage in aces (9-5) and the Rams had the edge in blocks (8-5)
- ESU had a higher hitting percentage in all three sets and held a .253-.136 lead in the category by the end of the match. The Warriors closed out the match strong by recording a .333 clip after posting 14 kills and 3 errors on 33 attacks.
- With the victory, the Warriors improved their record in the all-time series to 5-3 over Shepherd
How it Happened vs. Shepherd
- The Warriors scored the first five points of the match on three kills and one ace, but Shepherd slowly chipped away as the Rams trimmed their deficit to 7-5. Shepherd was able to pull within one at 8-7 and 9-8 until ESU scored 10 of the next 13 points to extend the lead to 19-11. Following a kill from Shepherd, the Warriors closed out the set on a 6-2 run (25-14) to take a 1-0 advantage in the match.
- With Shepherd leading 9-7 to start the second set, ESU produced a 5-0 run with a trio of errors and two kills to grab a 12-9 lead. After two straight points from Shepherd got the Rams within one (12-11), the Warriors tallied nine of the next 12 points to jump ahead 21-14. Shepherd battled back with a 6-1 run to cut ESU's lead to 22-20, but the teams went back and forth over the next five points with ESU closing out the set 25-22 for a 2-0 advantage.
- The Rams raced out to an 8-3 lead in the final set, but ESU ripped off a 5-0 spurt to tie the score at 8-8. Shepherd settled back by scoring four of the next five points (12-9) until ESU went on a 4-0 run to jump in front 13-12. With the score tied at 15-15, the Warriors tallied four consecutive points to lead 19-15, but the Rams fought back with a 5-0 run to go up 20-19. After ESU regained a 24-21 lead, Shepherd fended off two consecutive set points before a kill from Coulter end the match.
Up Next
The homestand continues for ESU with the Warriors hosting Lock Haven next Friday, October 13 at 7 p.m. at Koehler Fieldhouse
