For the second time in school history, the Griffin volleyball team will be playing for a PSAC Championship. Seton Hill defeated Shippensburg 3-1 to advance to Saturday's PSAC Championship Match. The Griffins improve to 23-8 overall while the Raiders drop to 25-7 on the season.
The Griffins got on the board first with a solo block from
Jessica Hanson. Back to back blocks from
Jillian Livorse and Hanson gave SHU the early 4-1 lead. A Hanson kill put the Griffins in front 5-1 and forced an early Raider timeout.
Taylor Sabol went over on two to put the Griffins in front 7-2.
Leah Bisignani ended a 3-0 Raider run and gave SHU an 8-5 advantage.
Rachel Satira and Bisignani combined on a block to give SHU an 11-7 lead. Two kills from Satira extended the SHU lead to 15-12. Two service errors from the Raiders kept SHU in front 18-16.
Brynn Fleury followed with an ace to give SHU the 19-16 lead. Shippensburg fought back to tie the set at 20 but a Ship service error gave SHU a 21-20 lead. A Ship hitting error and a Hanson/Satira block gave SHU a 23-20 advantage. Hanson made it 24-20. Another Ship error gave SHU the first set 25-20.
Satira and Hanson combined on another block to even the second set at five. A kill from
Viktoria Farian and a Ship hitting error gave SHU a 7-5 lead early in the set. Back to back kills from Farian increased the lead to 12-9. The Raiders then went on a 5-1 run to take a 14-13 lead. Back to back kills from
Erin Parks put SHU back in front 16-14. After Ship took a 19-17 lead,
Cameron Baril's first swing cut the lead to 19-18. Two kills from Farian sparked a quick 3-0 run to tie the set at 21 and force the Raiders to take a timeout. Ship answered with two straight of their own. The Raiders took the second set by a 25-22 score to even the match at one.
Seton Hill took an early 5-2 lead in the third set. After the Raiders took a 6-5 lead, a Farian kill and Ship error put SHU back in front 8-6. Another Livorse kill flipped the lead in the set to the Griffins at 11-9. Parks buried an overpass to put SHU in front 14-12. Hanson followed with her fifth kill and SHU led 15-12. Parks and Hanson then combined on a block and SHU took a 16-12 lead and the Raiders took a timeout. Parks ended a two point Ship run with a kill and SHU led 17-14. Bisignani hammered an overpass to put SHU in front 19-16 and the Raiders burned their last timeout. Farian answered a Ship point with a kill to make it 20-17. Another Farian kill made it 21-17. Farian started to heat up and another kill made it 22-18. Back to back kills from Satira gave SHU a set point at 24-20. Two straight from the Raiders cut the lead to 24-22 and the Griffins had to take a timeout. After the Raiders tied the set at 24, Livorse gave SHU another set point at 25-24. Bisignani gave SHU their fifth set point with a kill and Farian ended the set with a kill and SHU took a 2-1 lead with a 27-25 third set win.
The teams were tied at four early in the fourth set. Bisignani put down an overpass and SHU and Ship were tied at six. Bisignani and Hanson combined on a kill and SHU led 14-9. Farian and Hanson combined on a block to make it 16-12 and Satira's kill made it 17-12. Another Satira kill made it 18-15. Hanson and Parks combined on another block to make it 19-15. A Ship error increased the lead to 20-15. After a Ship point they gave it right back with a service error. Another Ship error increased the SHU lead to 22-16. Make it three in a row for Ship as SHU took a 23-16 lead. Baril sent the Griffins to the title match with a kill in a 25-16 win.
Viktoria Farian led the Griffins with 13 kills.
Rachel Satira added 10 kills while
Jillian Livorse and
Jessica Hanson finished with 8 kills each. Hanson led the team with a career high 9 blocks. Farian posted 18 digs.
Brynn Fleury ran the offense with 24 assists.
Taylor Sabol added 18. Satira, Farian and Bisignani each had four blocks.
Seton Hill will meet the top seed Gannon, a 3-0 winner over California (PA) on Saturday at 7 PM in the PSAC Championship match.
