BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University volleyball team fell to visiting Shippensburg University in straight sets, Saturday morning. The Huskies dropped to 8-21 on the year and 3-13 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action while the Raiders improved to 23-4 on the year and 15-1 in conference action.
 
The Raiders held off a late set comeback attempt in the first set to open the match with a 25-21 set one win before rolling to a 25-16 win the second set. The Huskies once again pushed a comeback attempt late in the third set but the Raiders scored three of the last four points in the set to finish off the match 25-20.
 
Shippensburg got off to a quick start in the opening set and seemed to take control of the match early as the Raiders led 8-2 early. The Raiders pushed their lead to 11-3 thanks to a pair of kills from Alana Pergine and an ace from Gabriella Johnson. The Huskies began chipping away at the lead and a pair of kills from sophomore Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) highlighted a 6-4 advantage for Bloomsburg as they cut the lead to six, 15-9. The Raiders scored the next three points to push their lead back to nine, 18-9, but the Huskies outscored Shippensburg 5-3 over the next eight points to get back to within five, 22-17, and to get sophomore Sydney Buell (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) to the service line. Buell served a pair of aces and handed out an assist for sophomore Mary Kate Mooney's (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) kill to cut the Raider lead to one, 22-21. Shippensburg was forced to call a time out and came out of the brief break with two quick kills to earn their first set point of the game. An attacking attempt from Bloomsburg went long on the final serve of the set and Shippensburg hung on to win 25-21.
 
The second set got off to a might tighter start as neither team could put together more than a two-point run and Shippensburg led 12-9. The Raiders got Johnson back to the service line and she served five-straight points to push the Raider lead to 17-9. The two teams traded the next four points before the Raiders put together a three-point run to push their lead to 21-11. A Raider service error got the ball back to Bloomsburg and Mooney cut the lead down to 21-13 with another kill but the Raiders closed out the set with a 4-3 run to win the second set 25-16 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Shippensburg got out to another hot start in the third set as the Raiders once again led 8-2 to start the set. The Huskies worked their way back in and cut the lead down to 10-7 thanks to an ace from sophomore Rachel Hutchinson (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area). Another kill from Pergine pushed the Raiders lead back to 11-7 and the two teams traded short runs until Shippensburg rattled off four-straight points to take a 19-11 lead in the final set. A block from sophomore Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) got freshman Julia Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) back on the service line and she served a pair of points to cut the lead down to 19-14. Shippensburg pushed its lead back to 21-14 but the Huskies used a 5-1 run to claw their way back into the game and cut the lead to 22-19. The Raiders thwarted the comeback attempt, however, as they used a pair of kills and a block for the final point of the match to win 25-20.
 
Mooney led the Huskies with seven kills and 12 digs while Burcin added five kills and two block assists. Junior Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) paced the Huskies with 19 digs. Buell finished the day with 11 assists, three aces, and four digs while sophomore Bryn Stek (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) chipped in seven assists and four digs.
 
The Huskies get back to the court next Tuesday when they host Lock Haven in a 7:30 p.m. PSAC contest at Nelson Field House. The Bald Eagles square off against Shepherd University Saturday afternoon before making the short trip to Bloomsburg next Tuesday.