Being ousted from the playoffs is not something any sports team wants to endure, especially when it had a stellar regular season.
The Shippensburg University volleyball team earned the No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, its second consecutive bid to the big show and third in school history.
On Monday night the Raiders watched the NCAA Division II volleyball selection show to see if they were going to be chosen to battle for the national title.
The Raiders were picked to face No. 5 seed University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
SU will be led by the hard hitting outside hitter of Jill Edwards, stellar middle blocker Faith Athey and setter Maura Nolan.
Edwards has produced well for the Raiders this season, recording 538 kills and posting a .263 attack efficiency. Edwards leads SU in both categories.
Athey has been the Raiders’ go-to blocker. She is tied with Taylor Gottshall with 133 blocks each.
Athey has also recorded 217 kills in 546 attempts.
Nolan has taken the role of SU’s setter in her freshman season. Nolan has notched at least 10 assists in each game she has played, tallying 1,251 total assists so far. The North Allegheny High School grad
Nolan is ranked 75th in Division II, averaging 9.63 assists per set.
In the Raiders’ first matchup with the Mountain Cats, SU defeated UPJ 3–1 in match sets.
Edwards notched 17 kills and 10 digs in the first matchup while Nolan recorded 50 assists.
The Raiders will look to bounce back from their disapointing PSAC semifinal loss on Dec. 5.
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