The Malone University volleyball team made the short trip up Market Avenue on Tuesday night for a rematch with crosstown rival Walsh University.
The Pioneers took the opening two sets of the match, but the Cavaliers came all the way back to win the final three sets and capture the 3-2 Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) win.
THE ESSENTIALS
- Final Score: Walsh University Cavaliers 3 - Malone University Pioneers 2 | 25-17, 25-23, 16-25, 23-25, 6-15
- Records: Walsh (11-9, 5-7 G-MAC) | Malone (9-15, 5-7 G-MAC)
- Location: North Canton, Ohio | Alumni Arena
The Pioneers controlled the match early on, and appeared to be on the brink of sweeping the season series from their rivals.
Malone led by as many as ten points in the opening set when a Walsh attack error gave MU a 17-7 advantage.
Ultimately the Pioneers closed out the 25-17 set win with a kill by Kristen Hankins.
The second set was much more competitive, but still Malone had the upper hand.
Once again the Pioneers appeared to have things in hand late with a 23-20 lead, but were forced to hold off a huge comeback effort by Walsh. The Cavaliers scored three straight points to tie the set at 23-23.
Malone's defense forced WU into back-to-back attack errors, and finished the set off with a huge block by Grace Rosko and Kristen Hankins to score the 25-23 set win.
Unfortunately Walsh rallied back to take set three by a score of 25-17, and the Cavaliers tied the match with a 25-23 win in set four.
The decisive fifth set was all Walsh. The Cavaliers won 15-6 to finish off the 3-2 match win.
DETAILS
Anna Mallette (15) and CC Gurney (12) each finished with double-digit kills for Malone.
Grace Rosko finished just one block shy of her season-high with four.
The two-time reigning G-MAC North Division Defensive Player of the Week Macy McCauley led Malone with 22 total digs.
WHAT'S NEXT
Malone is at home Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. match with the University of Findlay.
Original source can be found here.