Lady Raider Volleyball Wins Fifth-Straight, Sweeps Pfeiffer

Oct. 23, 2005

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - In the final match of the SU Regional Crossover hosted by Shippensburg University, the Lady Raider volleyball team won its fifth-straight match with a 3-0 sweep over Pfeiffer University on Sunday afternoon in Heiges Field House. Game scores were 30-21, 30-21, 30-26.

With the win, Shippensburg (17-16) moved one match above .500 for the first time since September 27, a span of 15 matches. During the team's season-high five-match winning streak, four of the wins have come by a sweep, 3-0.

Freshman Kelly Dirks (Enola, Pa./Cumberland Valley) had a team-high eight kills while senior Michelle Doughty (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) added six and a team-high 19 digs. Of the 10 players who had an attack attempt, six had at least three kills as Shippensburg totaled 32 kills as a team.

Freshman Maureen DuVall (Poolesville, Md./Poolesville) had 26 assists, nine digs, four kills and two blocks.

In game one, the Lady Raiders opened a 4-1 lead behind three service aces from junior Missy Pierce (Valparaiso, Ind./West Aurora (Ill.)) before extending that lead to six, 7-1. The Falcons (8-15) cut the lead to one, 15-14, but that was as close as they would get as Shippensburg led by as many as nine at 27-18 before Doughty, who totaled her 1,000th career kill on Saturday against Barton College, ended the game with a kill.

Game two was similar to the first as the Lady Raiders built a 12-6 lead. The team would extend the margin to its largest of the match at 10, 26-16, before a kill by Dirks and a hitting error by Pfeiffer sealed the win.

Shippensburg sophomore Brianna Williams (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll) left her mark on game three by totaling seven service aces, including three that led to three of the team's first five points. Trailing by eight points, 21-13, the Falcons rallied to cut the lead to three, 27-24, but a service ace by Williams gave the Lady Raiders match point and an attack error by Pfeiffer ended it.

Freshman Kelsi Hoffman (York, Pa./West York) added 10 more digs to her continuing single-season school record total and freshman Ashleigh Helfrick (Greencastle, Pa./James Buchanan) totaled nine digs and three kills. Sophomore Mandy Taylor (Hanover, Pa./Southwestern) had four kills.

Shippensburg returns to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division play on Tuesday night, hosting Cheyney University at 7:00 p.m. The Lady Raiders are currently in second-place in the Eastern Division with three divisional matches remaining against the Wolves, West Chester University and East Stroudsburg University. West Chester and ESU are also tied with Shippensburg for second-place with identical 4-3 conference records.

- Lady Raider Volleyball -