The Malone University volleyball team, now 14-11 on the season and 8-5 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, will play its final three home matches of the season this weekend, needing just one win or an Ohio Valley loss to punch its ticket to the G-MAC Championship Tournament set to be held on November 16-18.
 
The Pioneers welcome Davis & Elkins College this Thursday, November 2nd at 7:00 pm, Ohio Valley University on November 3rd at 7:00 pm and, Alderson Broaddus University this Saturday, November 4th at 2:00 pm. Friday's contest against the Fighting Scots will also serve as Senior Night as the Pioneers will honor defensive specialist Julia Marino, the lone senior on this year's squad.
 
Match Info
11/2 Malone vs. Davis & Elkins – 7:00 pm
11/3 Malone vs. Ohio Valley – 7:00 pm
11/4 Malone vs. Alderson Broaddus – 2:00 pm
 
All matches will be broadcast live via the Great Midwest Digital Network at portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
 
Malone Notes 

• The Pioneers enter the week having lost five straight matches and seven of their last nine overall.
• Malone earned a clean sweep of D&E, OVU, and AB in September, but needed four sets in all three matches and a fifth set at Davis & Elkins.  Since joining the G-MAC last season, Malone is 7-1 against the West Virginia-based schools.
• The Pioneers are coming off an 0-2 week that included a loss to Walsh in which they never led by more than two points and a loss to NCAA DII #23 Wheeling Jesuit in which they played much better and won the third set 25-19 before falling in four.
• Faith Lau led Malone with 11 kills and a career-high 18 digs in the loss to WJU on Saturday. On the season she has 10 matches with 10 or more kills and a pair of double-doubles. She is third on the team with 2.50 kills/set.
• Veronica Gehring leads the team with 2.68 kills a set, but has not reached double-digit kills in any of her last five matches after doing so in eight of her previous nine. She posted 15 kills against all three of this weekend's opponents when they met in September.
• Junior middle hitter Mallory Adams is second on the team in kills (2.62/s) and digs (2.61/s) and is second in the G-MAC in blocks (1.06/s). Adams recorded double-doubles against all three of this weekend's opponents the last time they played and registered her first career triple-double against Alderson Broaddus in 2016.
• Right side hitters Rachel Santos (nine) and Hannah Eliason (eight) combined for 17 kills at Wheeling Jesuit. Eliason also tied a season-high with five blocks in the match and is third on the team with 53 this season.
• Freshman setter Elizabeth Selleny made the most of her first career start last Saturday, compiling season-highs in assists (17), digs (eight), and aces (two).
• Fellow freshman setter Abbie Swaino added 15 assists as part of the two-setter rotation, reaching double-digit assists totals for the 13th time this season.
• Defensive specialist Sydney Black reached double-digit digs for the sixth time this season and the second time in her last three games with 13 digs at Wheeling Jesuit.
• Libero Maggie Hamrock has recorded 10+ digs in 23 of 25 matches this season is averaging 3.89/set (the 8th-most in the G-MAC) this season. Needing just 32 digs to reach 1,000 in her career, Hamrock is likely to reach the milestone at some point this weekend.
• As a team, Malone remains second in the G-MAC in digs (16.56/set), third in blocks (2.04/set), and 5th in opponents' hitting percentage (.173).
   

Davis & Elkins Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Senators enter Thursday's matchup just 9-17 overall, but 7-7 in the G-MAC. They are coming off a 1-1 weekend that included a four-set win over Ursuline on Saturday.
• Middle hitter Sasha Johnson led the team with 11 kills, seven blocks, and four aces in the win over the Arrows. Johnson is 3rd in the G-MAC in blocks (1.06/set) and also 6th in hitting percentage (.301).
• D&E ranks second as a team in total blocks (2.11/set). The Senators totaled 11.5 blocks in the five-set loss to Malone in September.
• Setter Zoe Craig had 43 assists in the match and ranks 8th in the G-MAC with 6.33/set. She is also second in the league with 0.42 aces/set.
• Outside hitter Kaitlyn LaCour had a team-high 15 kills in the loss to Malone. On the season, she leads Davis & Elkins with 2.18 kills a set.

Ohio Valley Notes -  Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Fighting Scots come into the weekend 9-16 overall and 4-10 in the G-MAC. After starting just 2-8 in conference, Ohio Valley has split their last four conference matches.
• OVU is, however, coming off a three-set loss to Lake Erie in which they recorded just 23 digs and gave up 11 service aces.
• Fa'aaliga Mikaele had nine kills and six digs in the match. On the season she is averaging 2.52 kills and 3.25 digs per set.
• Right side hitter Jessica Rafay leads the team in kills with 2.80/set while setter Stephany Orjuela is 4th in the G-MAC with 8.88 assists per set.
• Ohio Valley is 12th out of 13 teams in the G-MAC in digs per set (13.45), but libero Kalyn Makimoto is 10th individually with 3.62/set. Makimoto had 26 digs against Malone in September.

 
Alderson Broaddus Notes -  Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Battlers enter the week just 7-20 on the season and 1-13 in conference play. AB has lost five straight matches and is just 2-15 over its last 17 overall.
• Alderson Broaddus is coming off of a four-set loss to Fairmont State on Tuesday night. Madison Johnson led the team with seven kills in the loss. She had a team-high 15 kills against Malone earlier this season.
• On the season, Johnson leads the team and is 9th in the G-MAC with 2.96 kills per set. She is also hitting a team-high .249.
• As a team, ABU is 4th in the G-MAC in services aces (1.67/s). Outside hitter Elise Wolff is 4th overall with 38 total aces.
• Libero Joyce Eid is 9th in the conference with 3.86 per set.