The Malone University volleyball team, 14-9 overall and 8-4 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, will be on the road this week for a pair of challenging contests. The Pioneers, who have lost three straight matches and five of their last seven overall, will face Walsh University on Thursday, October 26th at 7:00 pm as the two teams battle for position atop the G-MAC East Division Standings. Malone will be tested once again on Saturday, October 28th when it takes on a Wheeling Jesuit University squad that is ranked 23rd in NCAA Division II in a non-conference match.
 
Match Info
10/26 – Malone at Walsh - 7:00pm
Live video: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
 
10/28 – Malone at Wheeling Jesuit – 3:00 pm
Live stats: sidearmstats.com/wju/wvball
 
Malone Notes

• The Pioneers are looking to bounce back from an 0-3 week that included four-set losses to G-MAC West Division leaders Findlay and Hillsdale last weekend.
• At 8-4 in conference, the Pioneers remain in a second-place tie with Walsh in the G-MAC East, but could overtake the Cavaliers with a win on Thursday.
• The Malone offensive attack has slowed as of late as the Pioneers have hit better than .200 in just two of their seven October matches. Malone posted just a .105 attacking percentage against Walsh in early September.
• Freshman right side hitter Rachel Santos recorded a season-high 11 kills against Walsh in September. She had 15 kills in two matches last weekend.
• Sophomore right side Hannah Eliason collected 18 kills last weekend while hitting a robust .382.
• Mallory Adams recorded a team-high 19 kills and 12 blocks along with 23 digs against Findlay and Hillsdale.  Adams is 2nd in the G-MAC with 1.06 blocks per set
• Veronica Gehring and Faith Lau, who each average better than 2.5 kills per set this year, combined for 24 kills .
• Cathryn Miller totaled 24 digs and 75 assists across the two matches. She is 7th in the conference with 6.56 assists per set.
• Maggie Hamrock is 8th in the G-MAC with 3.90 digs per set. The junior libero collected 44 digs last weekend and now needs just 58 more to reach 1,000 in her career.
• Defensive specialist Julia Marino added 18 digs and a team-high three service aces in the two losses.
• Malone's defense ranks 2nd in the conference in both digs (16.64) and blocks (2.02) per set. The Pioneers have been out-dug, however, in seven straight matches as they've been unable to generate consistent attacks.
• The Pioneers have lost five straight matches to Walsh since beating the Cavs in North Canton in 2015. They'll look to reverse that trend on Thursday night.

Walsh Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Cavaliers, 15-9 overall (8-4 G-MAC), hit .196 against Malone in September and collected 58 kills to the Pioneers' 42. Walsh also had five more blocks (9.0-4.0) and 20 more digs (84-64).
• Lauren Loucks (15), Gina Kramer (14), Paola Ferrario (13), and Justine Coffman (11) combined for 53 kills in the 25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 25-20 victory.
• Loucks (3.25 kills/set), Ferrario (2.88 k/s), and Kramer (2.63 k/s) make up one of two trios in the G-MAC that each average more than 2.5 kills a set. Malone's Gehring, Adams, and Lau make up the other.
• Walsh setter Olivia Zanolli is 3rd in the G-MAC in assists (10.17/s) while libero Amanda Adoranti is 4th in digs (4.86 /s).

Wheeling Jesuit Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• WJU (20-4) dispatched of Walsh in three sets (25-10, 25-15, 25-13) on Tuesday night. The Cardinals hit .360 while limiting Walsh to a .067 attacking percentage.
• Setter Stephanie Sylvester had 34 assists in the match and on the season ranks 8th in DII with 11.67 per set.
• Outside hitter Cassie Meyer (3.71 kills per set) and middle hitter Haley Kramer (3.39 k/s, .390 attack %) lead a WJU offense that ranks 17th in the country in hitting.
• The Cardinals enter the weekend on a 17-match winning streak and their four losses this season have all come against teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the coaches poll.
• Malone has been swept by the Cardinals in each of the last three seasons. Wheeling Jesuit is 138-15 since 2014. They reached the Elite Eight in 2014 and 2016 and were DII National Champions in 2015.