The Malone University volleyball team saw its season come to an abrupt end in the opening round of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championship Tuesday night at the University of Findlay. Malone was swept 13-25, 21-25, 15-25, marking the ninth-straight defeat to the Oilers. With the loss, the Pioneers finished the season with a 16-16 overall record.
 
Recap
Findlay, who came in as the fourth-best hitting team in Division II (.278), began the match on a 7-0 run before cruising to a comfortable first-set victory. The Oilers hit .310 in the set while Malone produced just seven kills compared to seven attack errors to finish with a .000 mark.
 
In the second set, the Pioneers found a little rhythm and eventually took their first lead of the match at 12-11. Tied later at 16-16, Findlay pulled away with a 5-0 run on its way to claiming the set 25-21. After hitting .306 in the second set, Findlay hit .362 with 20 kills in the third. Eight of those kills came during an 9-0 run when the Oilers turned a thin 11-9 lead into an insurmountable 20-9 margin.
 
Malone committed just one attack error in the final frame, but had no answer for the power from the Oiler attack, which produced a .330 hitting percentage, the second-highest by a Malone opponent this season. The Pioneers, meanwhile, finished the match with just 29 kills, their second-fewest total of the season.
 
Playing in the final match of her collegiate career, Mallory Adams led Malone with nine kills and no errors on 20 total attacks (.450 attacking percentage). Faith Lau was next with eight kills, Hannah Eliason followed with six, and senior Veronica Gehring totaled five. Senior setter Cathryn Miller provided a team-high 16 assists. Elizabeth Selleny added 10 assists and two aces.
 
Sydney Black led the Malone defense with 13 digs. Lau and senior libero Maggie Hamrock contributed nine digs each. Miller and Eliason recorded three blocks apiece at the net.