Shippensburg University Athletics

The Shippensburg University women's volleyball team traveled to Eastern Division No. 1 seed Lock Haven Tuesday night for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Quarterfinal and scored a historic sweep of the Lady Eagles, posting set scores of 25-23, 25-22 and 26-24 to advance into the league semifinals for the third straight year.
 
Shippensburg (19-16) defeated Lock Haven (20-11) on its home floor for the first time in its history, as the Raiders had never before bested the Lady Eagles in 11 prior matchups at Thomas Field House (Lock Haven began volleyball in 1991; Shippensburg in 1980). In fact, SU had only won four of the 37 sets against LHU on its home floor – two of which came in a five-set loss in 2010.
 
The Raiders posted its first road victory in the PSAC Tournament since a 3-1 win at Kutztown in 2009. SU has now won just five PSAC Tournament matches since 1991, three of which have come in the last three years under head coach Leanne Piscotty.
 
It certainly took a total team effort to take down Lock Haven on Tuesday night, but junior Taylor Gottshall was a significant factor in the end result. Gottshall slammed a match-high 15 kills to just one error, swinging .483 (her second-highest efficiency rate this season), and tallied six digs.
 
Despite being credited with just two blocks, she dominated the middle in Tuesday's match and has now tied junior teammate Faith Athey for the single-season block assists record (122) set last season.
 
The work in the back row by junior libero Laura Plank was also integral to keep Shippensburg in many rallies and give it a chance to set up scoring opportunities. Plank, who had a career-high 39 digs in Saturday's five-set loss to Lock Haven, totaled 34 digs on Tuesday – her second-largest total in a match in her career.
 
Sophomore Annie Goerl was the only other Raider with double-digit kills; she was credited with 10 in the match. Fellow sophomore Rebecca Pryor continued her steady play on the front lines with six kills to just one error, hitting .263, while contributing to three blocks.
 
Sophomore setter Maura Nolan, the reigning PSAC East Player of the Week, had 39 assists, eight digs, three blocks and two kills. Senior Casey Hawbaker had 12 digs and freshman Courtney Malott chipped in with six kills and eight digs.
 
Shippensburg heads to Greensburg this weekend for a Saturday matchup with the hosts, Western Division No. 2 seed Seton Hill, at a time to be determined (likely 6:30 p.m.) from Salvitti Gym. SU dropped a four-set match to the Griffins earlier this season inside Heiges Field House in a match that had all four sets decided by five points or less.

Note: The PSAC Championship Match (Sunday, noon) will be aired live on PCN. In addition to watching the championship game on television, fans can catch a live web stream of the game online (more info here). The volleyball championship game will re-air on Monday, November 17 at 12:30 a.m. and 9 p.m.