Box Score

The Malone University volleyball team suffered a narrow five-set loss on Wednesday evening in a non-conference match on the road against local rival Walsh University. The Cavaliers took the first two sets of the night by scores of 25-23 and 25-15 before the Pioneers fought back to even the match by claiming sets three and four 25-21 and 26-24. Walsh managed to recover in the decisive fifth set, though, edging Malone 15-10 to secure the hard-fought victory. The Cavaliers improved to 15-5 on the season with the win while the Pioneers dropped to 22-4.

Outside hitter Jennifer Gahagan led the way for Malone with 17 kills, 10 digs and four blocks (three solo). Middle hitter Lauren Townley followed with a season-high 14 kills. Outside hitter Lori Gale posted 11 kills to go with a season-high 26 digs. Middle hitter Hannah Haver added eight kills, seven digs and six blocks (one solo) while right-side hitter Megan Fisher also registered eight kills. Other contributors included setter Jackie Schwamberger with 50 assists and 16 digs, libero Allison Kirby with 12 digs and right-side hitter Emily Beiting with 14 digs.

Wednesday's tough defeat marked the Pioneers' second loss of the season to their cross-town rivals as the Cavaliers also prevailed in the American Mideast Conference match that was held at Malone on September 28th.

The Pioneers will look to bounce back over the weekend when they travel to Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York to compete in the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) East Region Tournament. Malone will open play at the five-team event on Friday afternoon with a 4:00 p.m. contest against Nyack (NY) College followed by a 6:00 p.m. match against Geneva (PA) College. Then on Saturday, the Pioneers will face Mount Vernon Nazarene University at 10:00 a.m. before taking on the tournament host, Roberts Wesleyan, at 2:00 p.m. The winner of the event will receive an automatic bid to the NCCAA National Tournament that will be held in Kissimmee, Florida December 2-4.