A tough weekend road trip for the Shippensburg University volleyball team saw junior Morgan DeFloria become the ninth player in school history to record 1,000 kills in a career on Friday night as the Raiders fell to California University of Pennsylvania (Cal) in a four-set match from the Cal University Convocation Center. 

The Raiders had to tweak their lineup this weekend due to an injury to starting setter Emily Hangen as junior Courtney Malott has stepped up to assume the role. Malott had a strong performance in her new role, totaling six kills, eight digs, and 31 assists in the match.

SU’s lone set victory came in the opening frame with the Raiders having 22 of their 44 kills come in the set. The Raiders scored the final three points to win the set, 26-24.

The Vulcans used a strong 13-1 run to overpower the Raiders, as they won the second set 25-9. After the score was tied in the third set, Cal went on a 5-1 run to take a 2-1 match advantage. 

Another well-executed run helped seal the match victory for Cal in the fourth and final set, as the Vulcans used a 10-1 scoring run to eventually pull away from the Raiders for good. 

Earning a start once again for SU was freshman Gianna Sigado as she finished the night with six kills, nine digs and three assists. 

Raider sophomore Samantha Webber led all players in the match with 13 kills. DeFloria recorded her third straight double-double and 13th overall this season with 11 kills and 14 digs.

The weekend woes carried into Saturday for the Raiders as they failed to record a set victory against regionally-ranked Seton Hill University, dropping the match in straight sets, 21-25, 18-25 and 9-25.

A closely-contested first set was surrendered by SU, despite the Raiders jumping out to an early 4-1 lead. 

The Griffins opened up the second set by taking a 7-1 scoring advantage, which they used to eventually win the set 25-18.

Seton Hill once again used a strong start in the final set, as the Griffins scored the first seven points and ultimately took an 11-2 lead. The lead was insurmountable for the Raiders as Seton Hill scored the final four points to close out the match.

Six different Raiders recorded a kill on the day including a team high seven from DeFloria. Sophomore Kendall Johnson was close behind, as she tallied six of her own. 

Malott continued to play in the setter position as she recorded 12 assist in the contest. 

SU will look to turn things around as the Raiders get set to host their final regular season home match on Tuesday against Millersville University. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at Heiges Field House.

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