The 2016 season came to an end for the Malone University volleyball team Friday night in Mason, Ohio as the Pioneers lost to top-seeded Cedarville University in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal. The Yellow Jackets played up to their #1 seed and now 25-8 record as they swept Malone 25-14, 25-22, 25-17 and advanced to take on Davis & Elkin College in the G-MAC Championship. The Pioneers, meanwhile, finished the season 10-24, including a 6-6 conference mark in their first year in the G-MAC.
 
A night after defeating Kentucky Wesleyan in comeback fashion, the youthful Pioneers came out flat in the opening set, falling behind 6-0 at the start of the match and never challenging the more experienced Cedarville squad. The Yellow Jackets hit .300 in the set with 12 kills and four services aces. Malone hit just .083 with only nine kills.
 
In the second set, Malone fared slightly better with 13 kills and just five attack errors. The Yellow Jackets landed 17 kills and hit.349 in the set but kept Malone close with five service errors. After trailing 8-3 early on, the Pioneers went on a 10-2 run to open up a 13-10 lead. Later in the set, Malone still maintained an advantage at 20-19 but Cedarville closed with a 6-2 run to win the second set.
 
In the third set, the Pioneers won three of the first four points, but Cedarville continued their assault on the attacking end, posting 15 more kills en route to the 25-17 third-set victory and a G-MAC Semifinal sweep.
 
Malone finished the match with 31 kills and a .151 attacking percentage while Cedarville hit .315 with 44 total kills. The Pioneers had slightly more digs than the Jackets (49-47) but allowed 10 service aces in the loss.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Mallory Adams once again led the Malone attack with a team-high 10 kills. Sophomores Hannah Meckstroth and Veronica Gehring added seven and six kills respectively. Sophomore setter Cathryn Miller contributed 19 assists.
 
On the defensive end, senior libero Lynsey Trusty led the Pioneers with 15 digs while sophomore Maggie Hamrock chipped in with 12. Adams added a team-high three blocks.
 
G-MAC All-Conference First Team outside hitter Abby Shelton recorded a match-high 18 kills for Cedarville.
 
**Friday night's contest marked the final collegiate match for seniors Lynsey Trusty and Haley Kool. Trusty finished the campaign with 648 digs and a 4.91 digs per set average. Both totals ranked as the 4th most in Malone single-season history. She finished her career with 1,008 digs, reaching the 1,000-dig milestone in her final match.
 
Kool finished the season with 111 total blocks (11 solo, 100 block assists). Her 100 block assists tied for the third-highest single season total in the Malone record book. She finished her career 8th in Malone history with 278 total blocks and 5th all-time with 239 career block assists.