On Tuesday, Nov. 17, the Shippensburg University volleyball team faced West Chester University in a quarterfinal match for the beginning of the PSAC playoffs. The two teams were evenly matched, with each team stealing a win from the other in the regular season.

Both the Raiders and the Rams started off strong in the first set, with the Rams leading by only a few points. Although the Raiders were playing aggressively and making very few errors, the Rams pulled ahead to win the first set 19-25. SU rallied back to win the second and third sets 25-16. The fourth set looked hopeful for the Raiders when the Rams were shaken up by the injury of their starting setter, but the Rams were able to pull out the win 20-25. Both teams were visibly exhausted but not ready to give up the fight as they headed into the fifth and final set, which would determine which team would move on to the semifinals.

The crowd was going wild as Shippensburg took the lead with a seven-point streak, making the score 9-1. Things were looking even more bleak for West Chester when Shippensburg went on a five-point run to make the score 14-2. West Chester managed to score four consecutive points, but ultimately sealed their fate with a hitting error. SU won the fifth set 15-6, securing a spot in semifinals against Edinboro University. Annie Goerl led SU with 17 kills. Middle blockers Faith Athey and Taylor Gottshall each contributed 12 kills and Courtney Malott ended the night with six kills. Malott’s main contribution was her service performance, having delivered five aces and gone on many service runs.

The SU volleyball team traveled to the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown on Friday, Nov. 20 to play against the No. 1 seed in the west division, Edinboro University. The Raiders faced Edinboro earlier in the season, where they lost in a five set match to the Scots, so the semifinals were expected to be a heated face-off between the two teams.

Although SU put up a worthy fight, the girls lost the first set 23-25 and the second set 19-25. The Raiders came back for a blow-out in the third set with a final score of 25-13. In the fourth set, SU and Edinboro were neck and neck until the Raiders pulled away at the very end to win 25-23. The players and the crowd were eager for the fifth set to begin, given that the winner would move on to the PSAC championship match. SU pulled away from the Scots early and were able to maintain the lead throughout the whole set. The Raiders ended the night with a win, with the final set score being 15-11. Freshman Morgan DeFloria led the team from the outside with 21 kills, a career high for DeFloria. Other offensive leaders include Goerl, who banged out 15 kills and middles Gottshall and Athey, with nine and seven kills, respectively. From the back row, Laura Plank led the defense with 19 digs and even got the first kill of the fourth set. Maria Peluso contributed 17 digs and three of SU’s five service aces. The Raiders would move on to the championship game for only the third time in Shippensburg University volleyball history. They would face Clarion University, whom the Raiders conquered earlier in the season.

On Saturday Nov. 21, the Shippensburg University volleyball team made school history by winning the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship against Clarion University. It was a four-set match, with SU winning the first set 25-17, losing the second set 27-29 and winning the final two sets 25-21 and 25-20, respectively. SU tied its single-season school record for wins (30-8) and has earned an automatic bid in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Taylor Gottshall tied the PSAC record for career block assists with 470 and is a mere four blocks shy from being the fourth player in the history of the conference to total 600 blocks in a career. Morgan DeFloria was the standout player of the tournament with a total of 38 kills, eight digs and six blocks over the two-day period, which earned her recognition as the 2015 PSAC Tournament MVP. Other offensive leaders included Gottshall (11 kills), Malott (7 kills) and Goerl (7 kills). Athey had five kills, the fifth being the game-winning slide attack that earned SU the championship title. Peluso totaled 17 digs and Plank totaled 15 digs. The Raiders will find out what they are seeded on Monday, Nov. 23 when the 2015 NCAA Division II selection show airs at 7:30 p.m. 

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