The Malone University volleyball team dropped to 0-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) after suffering a five-set defeat to Ursuline College Tuesday night at home by the final scores of 28-26, 14-25, 25-21, 21-25, 12-15. Malone also dropped to 0-5 on the season in five-set matches. All five of those matches have been at home.
 
In what would become a tremendous defensive match in which the two teams combined for 194 digs, Malone captured the first set after fighting off six set points. Trailing 20-24, three straight Ursuline errors and a Mallory Adams kill tied it up a 24-24. Malone battled off two more set points at 24-25 and 25-26 before a Faith Lau kill clinched the set at 28-26.
 
Ursuline made quick work of Malone in the second set before the Pioneers answered with a 25-21 third-set win in which they won the final four points. The Arrows responded with their own 25-21 victory in the fourth set as the Pioneers finished with a .000 hitting percentage and struggled to generate an attack. Ursuline would jump out to a 13-8 lead in the fifth and final set before Malone threatened another comeback. Back-to-back kills by Emily Adklnson, however, secured the victory for the Arrows and crushed any Malone hope for a rally.
 
The Pioneers finished the match with 101 team digs as six players collected double-digit digs totals. Leading the way for Malone was Lynsey Trusty who collected 28 digs alongside Mallory Adams and Sydney Black who recorded 15 digs apiece. Maggie Hamrock, Tori Hall, and Faith Lau each chipped in with 10 digs. Adams led Malone with five blocks while Haley Kool totaled four blocks.
 
Adams also led the Malone offensive attack with a team-high 12 kills to complete her first collegiate double-double. Kool was next with 11 kills while Faith Lau also achieved a double-double after tallying 10 kills. Hall was the third Pioneer with a double-double in the nearly two-hour match, ending the night with 19 assists. Lau, Hall, Hamrock, and Trusty all added two service aces.
 
Ursuline, now 10-6 on the season and 2-1 in the G-MAC, avenged a five-set loss to Pioneers in the only meeting between the two teams in 2015. Makayla Windau registered a game-high 14 kills to go along with 18 digs. Kassidy Stilwell led Ursuline with a game-high 30 digs.
 
Malone, now 3-16 overall and 0-3 in the G-MAC, will look to bounce back this weekend when they play their first-ever G-MAC road matches at Ohio Valley on Friday and at Cedarville on Saturday