Freeport grad Erica Lampus quickly grows into prominent role for Shippensburg volleyball team

Erica Lampus admitted she had tempered her expectations. After all, freshmen normally don’t crack the starting lineup or even see regular playing time at the college level.

On top of that, the Shippensburg women’s volleyball team she was joining had a couple of established back-row players. The Freeport grad said she would have been happy just to get some playing time.

Lampus has received playing time. A lot of it. In fact, she quickly established herself as the Raiders’ primary libero and has played every match.

Shippensburg concluded the regular season at 10-4 in the PSAC (18-11 overall) and placed second in the East Division behind Shepherd. The Raiders will enter the PSAC Tournament as the East’s No. 2 seed and face No. 3 East Stroudsburg on Wednesday.

Lampus finished the regular season with 416 digs (3.89 per set) and ranked 12th in the conference overall and seventh in the East Division.

“I think I (did) pretty well,” she said. “It’s obviously exciting to go somewhere new and get some playing time. I’m just happy with that, I guess.

“I think it’s exceeded my expectations. I guess just in the preseason, I was libero for the second game, and I was just kind of, like, playing, and it didn’t feel like anything was weird. It just felt normal.”

In just her fourth collegiate match, she posted 14 digs, the first of many nights she would reach double digits. Her personal best was a 29-dig effort in a five-set win over Notre Dame (Ohio).

She also has 15 service aces and 58 assists.

Veteran coach Leanne Piscotty, who, in her 19th season at Shippensburg, recently got her 400th career win, said she has been impressed with Lampus.

“The position that she came into was competitive,” Piscotty said. “I think Erica, athletically, has a ton of potential. She’s very quick and very vocal, and I really like that.

“She took a little bit of time to have the confidence to believe in herself that the position could be hers. When that kind of happened, she started playing really strong. … She’s been doing a great job.”

If Lampus has any struggles at all, Piscotty said, it has nothing to do with her volleyball skill set. She said Lampus tends to be unnecessarily hard on herself.

“I think if she could get past being her own worst critic … she would thrive even more,” the coach said. “I think everybody believes in her but herself.”

Besides being given a lot of responsibility, Lampus also has gone through a position change of sorts in recent weeks. She started playing the No. 5 spot (back left) in the rotation but since has moved to playing more No. 6 (center back).

Piscotty said she was unsure if Lampus had played that position before, and that might have been “a little bit of a check to her confidence.”

To keep her spirits up, Lampus has found support from junior outside hitter Jackie Sterenberg. She said the two have formed a close bond, and each helps keep the other motivated on the court.

Lampus also credited her experience at Freeport for helping her development. The Yellowjackets played a number of high-level matches during her time there — they won the WPIAL Class 3A title her senior year — and the grit she picked up has carried over.

Piscotty sees big things to come for Lampus the more experience she gets and the more confidence she develops.

“She’s not tapped out yet on her potential,” the coach said. “She’s got a ton of potential to go. I would like her to really own that position, really communicate and be a little more of a ‘ball hog’ in a sense.”

Lampus said the impressive start to her college volleyball career has her excited for what the future holds.

“I think my standards are definitely always raising,” she said.

“I always want to do better to help the team make it as far as I can.”