SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg volleyball team battled hard in a three-set loss to Shippensburg inside the Heiges Field House on Saturday afternoon.
 
Marlee Johnson (Newville, Pa./Big Spring) led the match in kills with 15 while posting a .323 attack percentage. Sasha Moody (Abington, PA/Abington Senior) registered a .357 attack percentage while notching six kills. Allison Saalfrank (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) recorded a match-high three service aces and a team-leading 14 digs. Erin Clark (Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert) and Jessica Rimbo (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) combined for 27 assists.
 
Shippensburg (20-6, 12-0 PSAC) jumped out to an early lead over Bloomsburg (8-18, 0-12) on a 6-2 run to open the match. A pair of kills from Moody helped the Huskies fight back as a 4-1 run brought the score within one. SU surged ahead yet again on an 8-1 run to bring the score to 15-7. The maroon and gold were unable to close the gap as a series of small runs for the home team closed out the first set, 25-13.
 
The second set saw a much more even battle as the two sides exchanged points to a 5-5 deadlock. Katie Kuehl (Aston, Pa./Archmere Academy (Del.)), Sophie Wales (Port Matilda, Pa./State College) and Moody then each tallied a kill before Rimbo recorded an ace as the Huskies took a 10-5 lead. Bloomsburg withstood the Raiders' attack as the score moved to 15-9. The momentum then shifted in Shippensburg's favor, tying the set at 16-16 on a 7-1 swing. As the two sides closely battled towards the end of the set, a late run put SU up two sets with a 25-23 victory.
 
Shippensburg took a 7-3 lead to start the third set before Bloomsburg responded with a 5-1 run to level the score at 8-8. The highlight of the run saw Saalfrank record back-to-back aces. From there, the Huskies and the Raiders stayed in lock-step with each other with neither side taking an advantage larger than two points as the score reached 20-19 in favor of the maroon and gold. A pair of errors from the hosts moved the score to 22-19. Following a kill from Shippensburg, Wales responded with a kill to extend the lead for Bloomsburg. Saalfrank's third ace of the set put the Huskies within a point of sending the match to a fourth set.
 
The Raiders then rallied for five straight points to extended the set. Bloomsburg responded with kills from Wales and Johnson to regain the lead but SU answered right back with two points to take a 27-26 lead. Johnson recorded her 16th kill of the match to tie the set before Shippensburg ended the set, 29-27.
 
Bloomsburg will return back to Nelson Field House on Friday, November 14 as it hosts West Chester for a 6 p.m. contest.