The Malone University volleyball team captured its seventh straight win on Saturday with an impressive four-set victory over Lake Erie College, 25-23, 25-13, 21-25, 25-19, in a pivotal Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) East Division showdown. The Pioneers improved to 12-4 on the season, and 7-1 in the G-MAC, climbing up into a tie for first place in the East Division standings. The win gave Malone its first seven-match winning streak since the 2011 season.
 
Recap
Knowing they would have to play near perfect against a Lake Erie squad that entered the watch 12-4 overall and 6-1 in the conference, the Pioneers did just that in the first set, racing out to a 22-14 lead before ever committing their first attack error. Malone needed five set-points, but eventually came away with the set. In the second, Malone took advantage of 11 LEC attack errors and held the Storm to just five kills and a -.158 attacking percentage in a dominant 25-13 win.
 
Following the ten-minute intermission after the second set, the Pioneers fell behind 7-2 in the third. After a Malone timeout, the Pioneers closed the gap and later took the lead, 15-13, but a 5-0 Storm run helped the visitors force a fourth frame.  Malone raced out to a 12-4 advantage in the decisive game and never looked back. The Malone attack was dominant in the set, landing 18 kills against a quality defensive front.
 
Veronica Gehring led the Pioneers as she matched a career-high with 17 kills. She also tied a career-high with eight digs and recorded two blocks. Faith Lau and Mallory Adams aided in the offense, delivering 13 and 10 kills. Rachel Santos added seven kills while Hannah Eliason posted six. Setters Cathryn Miller and Abbie Swaino provided 28 and 20 assists. Adams and Sydney Black each served up a pair of aces.
 
Defensively for Malone, Adams led the charge with four blocks and 18 digs as she came away with her sixth double-double of the season. Miller also collected her sixth double-double of the campaign, finishing with 14 digs. Maggie Hamrock tied Adams with a team-high 18 digs while Brooklyn Sullivan and Hannah Eliason tied Adams with four blocks.
 
The Pioneers hit .225 as a team and held the potent Storm, who came into the match hitting .237, to just a .096 attacking percentage. Malone now sits in a first-place tie with Walsh atop the G-MAC East. Lake Erie, 12-5 overall (6-2 G-MAC), dropped to third.
 
Up Next
Malone will travel to northern West Virginia on Tuesday, October 3rd to take on West Liberty University in a non-conference match beginning at 7:00 pm.