SELINSGROVE, Pa. - The Susquehanna University women's volleyball team will battle Moravian College on Wednesday, November 1 at 7 p.m. in O.W. Houts Gymnasium in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Conference playoffs.
The Crusaders (17-11 overall, 5-2 Commonwealth Conference) earned second place and home-court advantage over the Lady Greyhounds (20-8, 5-2) by virtue of a 3-0 win in the teams' regular-season meeting in Selinsgrove on October 10. It will be the first-ever home playoff match for Susquehanna.
Susquehanna is led offensively by sophomore middle blocker Traci Sariscak (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park, H.S.), who leads the team with a .332 hitting percentage on the strength of 294 kills in 96 games (3.06 per game). Junior middle blocker Sarah Lauro (Collegeville, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) has registered an even 300 kills in 91 games (3.30 per game) and is hitting .303 for the season. On defense, junior captain and outside hitter Lydia Steward (Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola H.S.) ranks second in the Commonwealth Conference with a school single-season record 440 digs (4.63 per game).
Moravian, which has appeared in three straight NCAA Division III tournaments, is paced by freshman outside hitter Kim Zipf, who recorded 86 kills and 114 digs in 18 games at Elizabethtown's Halloween Classic to earn All-Tournament honors. For the season, Zipf is averaging 3.66 kills and 4.14 digs per game. Freshman setter Amy Lawrence posted 12.3 assists per game at the Halloween Classic to join Zipf on the All-Tournament squad.
The winner of Wednesday's match will advance to the championship match on Saturday against the winner of the other semifinal between Juniata and Messiah.
Admission to the match is $4.00 for adults, $2.00 for students and $3.00 for seniors, while children ages six and under are admitted free. The match will also be available on TEAMLINE by calling 1-800-846-4700 (extension 1787) at just 50 cents per minute for the first hour.
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