The Malone University volleyball team begins its final week of the regular season on Tuesday, October 30th with a pivotal matchup against rival Walsh University at 7:00 pm in Osborne Hall. The Cavaliers got the better of Malone in late September, winning in five sets.
 
The winner of Tuesday night's contest will take over first place in the G-MAC East Division Standings. The Pioneers enter the contest with a 15-13 overall record and a 11-5 mark in the G-MAC while Walsh is 16-12 overall and 12-4 in the conference. Lake Erie College, who has just two matches remaining, is in third place at 11-6.
 
The top-2 finishers in the G-MAC East will host home matches next Tuesday in the quarterfinal round of the G-MAC Championships. A Malone win over Walsh will give both teams a 12-5 G-MAC record and a 1-1 head-to-head record, but the Pioneers own the second and third-level tiebreakers. A loss, however, effectively puts Malone in third place because of the tiebreakers with Lake Erie.
 
Match Info
10/30 Malone vs. Walsh – 7:00 pm
Live video/stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
 
GameDay Promotion
Tuesday's match will feature a "White Out" theme. For fans who arrive early, there will also be pre-game giveaways.

Malone Notes 

• Malone has not beaten Walsh since September of 2015 and has now lost seven straight in the rivalry. Last month's match was the only one of the seven to go to five sets. The Pioneers also have not defeated the Cavs at home since 2014.
• The Pioneers are 7-5 at home this season. They are coming off a difficult four-set home loss to Ursuline last Friday and a heartbreaking five-set road loss to Lake Erie on Saturday in which they had five chances at match-point. In total, the Pioneers have dropped five of their last seven.
• Junior middle hitter Hannah Eliason led Malone with 29 kills over the two weekend matches, including 19 (the second-most in her career) against Lake Erie. On the season she is second on the team in kills (2.79 per set), hitting percentage (.284), and blocks (0.98 per set.)
• Senior middle hitter Mallory Adams leads the team in all three categories: (2.84 kills, .290 hitting percentage, and 1.06 blocks). She ranks second in the G-MAC in blocks. On Saturday, she reached 400 total blocks in her career.
• Senior setter Cathryn Miller is sixth in the G-MAC in assists (9.19 per set) while senior libero Maggie Hamrock is sixth in the conference in digs (4.64 per set).
• Senior outside hitter Veronica Gehring had a team-high 12 kills in the loss to Walsh in September. On the season, she is averaging 2.50 per set.
• Junior outside hitter Faith Lau, who leads the team in service aces (28), has averaged 2.29 kills and is second on the team with 3.12 digs per set. She recorded a career-high 21 digs at Lake Erie Saturday.
• Defensive specialists Abby Hasebein and Sydney Black have made contributions in the back row all season long. Hasebein is averaging 2.74 digs per set and has 23 service aces while Black is collecting 2.35 digs per set and is second on the team with 25 aces.
• Defensively, Malone, as a team, is second in the conference in digs (18.21 per set), blocks (2.15 per set), and opponent hitting percentage (.169).
   

Walsh Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Cavaliers, as a team, are third in the conference in attacking (.232) and fifth in kills (12.74 per set). In North Canton earlier this year, Walsh recorded 64 kills to Malone's 51.
• Outside hitter Lauren Loucks, who had 25 kills against the Pioneers in the last meeting, is second in the G-MAC with 3.94 per set. Setter Olivia Zanolli is third in the G-MAC in assists (10.62 per set) while libero Amanda Adoranti is fifth in the league in digs (4.93 per set).
• The Cavs are 6-4 on the road this season. They are coming off an easy three-set sweep of Ursuline this past Saturday.