SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V. – The East Stroudsburg University volleyball team wrapped up the regular season with a 3-1 victory at Shepherd in a PSAC East match on Saturday afternoon inside the Butcher Center. The set scores were 25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 25-16.
The Warriors ended the regular season 21-6 overall and 13-1 in the PSAC East while the Rams finished 14-14 on the year and 9-5 in the conference.
With Shippensburg defeating Kutztown in four sets early in the day, ESU secured the No. 2 seed in next week's PSAC Tournament. The Warriors will host No. 3 seed Shepherd in a quarterfinals match on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. inside Koehler Fieldhouse.
Senior
Sydney Stone (12), sophomore
Anna Coulter (11) and senior
Kaylee LoPresto (11) each had double digit kills to lead the Warriors.
Notables vs. Shepherd
- Stone had a team-high 12 kills to go along with seven digs and a block, while Coulter added three digs, two blocks and a pair of aces
- LoPresto notched her fifth double-double of the season as the Litchfield Park, Arizona native recorded 10 digs to go along with 11 kills
- Taylor Haan registered her second straight double-double and ninth of the season as the junior finished with 40 assists, 16 digs, five kills, three aces and two blocks
- Graduate student Claire Choloux contributed nine kills, seven digs, three assists, two blocks and pair of aces
- Tied for the team-lead with 16 digs, Makayla Baca continued her pursuit of 1,000 for her ESU career as the senior is up to 910 headed into postseason play. Additionally, Baca recorded four assists and an ace.
- Joi Fairweather paced Sheperd and the match with 14 kills while Victoria Nicholes posted a double-double on 34 assists and 12 digs
- ESU outhit Shepherd .175-.108 and finished with a slim advantage in aces (10-7) and blocks (7-6)
- The Warriors recorded 13 PSAC wins during the regular season which is the second most in program history (16-3 – 2019), and the .928 winning percentage is the second best since ESU went a perfect 10-0 in the 1996 season. Additionally, ESU clinched its fifth consecutive trip to the PSAC Tournament.
How it Happened vs. Shepherd
- The Rams grabbed three-point leads at 5-2, 7-4 and 8-5 to start the match until ESU scored four of the next five points to tie it up at 9-9. With the score even at 11-11, Shepherd ripped off a 4-0 run with three kills to pull ahead 15-11. ESU stayed within striking distance as the Rams were still ahead 22-19, until the Warriors proceeded to score six of the final seven points in the set (25-23) to take a 1-0 edge in the match.
- ESU carried over momentum into the second set, scoring the first three points before Shepherd went on an 8-1 run to grab an 8-4 advantage. The Warriors answered right back with a 4-0 spurt to even the score and the teams traded the next 16 points to remain all squared at 16-16. Shepherd caught fire as the Rams tallied six of the next eight points to jump ahead 22-18. ESU got within two points at 22-20 and 23-21 but the Rams closed out the set at 25-21 to even the match.
- After ESU scored the first point, Shepherd secured a 4-1 lead until the Warriors battled back to knot it at 7-7. ESU continued to roll as the Warriors scored six of the next nine points (13-10), before going on a 4-0 run to increase their advantage to 17-10. An error from ESU stopped the spurt momentarily but the Warriors scored four of the next five points to push the lead to 21-12. Shepherd wouldn't go down without a fight as the Rams went on a 7-1 run to make it 22-20, but ESU scored the final three points to win the set 25-20 for a 2-1 advantage.
- With the Warriors trailing 3-2 in the fourth set, ESU produced a 5-1 run to take a 7-4 lead over Shepherd. The Rams kills stopped the streak, but the Warriors tallied five of the next six points to extend their advantage to 12-6. The teams swapped the next 18 points with ESU maintaining a six-point lead over Shepherd at 21-15 until the Warriors scored four of the next five points, including the final three (25-16) to wrap up a 3-1 victory.
Up Next
ESU secured the No. 2 seed in next week's PSAC Tournament and will rematch No. 4 seed Shepherd on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. inside Koehler Fieldhouse. More information will be available in the coming days at esuwarriors.com.
