The Malone University volleyball team split a pair of matches on day two of the Hall of Fame City Challenge in Osborne Hall on Saturday, dropping a marathon five-setter to Seton Hill University in the morning before cruising to a three-set sweep of Daemen College in the nightcap. With the Saturday split, Malone is now 4-4 on the season.
 
Malone 2, Seton Hill 3 (19-25, 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 10-15)
In a match that lasted two hours and 24 minutes, the two teams exchanged leads just five times, all five times during the second set. Seton Hill led from start to finish in all three of their set wins while Malone led wire-to-wire in the third set.
 
The Pioneers battled back in the second set, overcoming a 20-16 deficit with nine straight points. They couldn't do the same in the final two frames, however, as the Griffins raced out to a 9-2 lead in the fourth and a 9-4 lead in the fifth before closing out five-set victory. In a rewarding end to the fifth set, Seton Hill held off a Malone comeback bid, using four straight points to secure the victory.
 
Four Pioneers reached double-digit kills in the match, including Hannah Eliason, who totaled a career-high 17 kills. Faith Lau recorded 12 kills, Mallory Adams 11, and Veronica Gehring added 10. Setter Cathryn Miller distributed a season-high 45 assists.
 
Defensively, Maggie Hamrock posted a team-high 24 digs as Lau added 12 and Sydney Black scooped up 11 digs. Adams collected a team-high five blocks in the front row. Eliason added four blocks to her offensive outburst.
 
Viktoria Farian collected 19 kills and 19 digs to lead the Griffins in the victory.
 
Malone 3, Daemen 0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-20)
The Pioneers' second match of the day lasted just 65 minutes as they dominated in front of the home crowd. Malone held Daemen to a .037 collective hitting percentage, including a .000 mark in the second and third sets. The Pioneers, meanwhile, hit a season-high .264, including a .405 attacking percentage in the first set.
 
Malone faced its biggest deficit of the match down 6-3 in the second set, but quickly erased the disadvantage with a 12-3 rally. The Pioneers carried the momentum into the final set and led by as many as nine points before caging the Wildcats in the win.
 
Mallory Adams led Malone with 10 kills, Faith Lau was right behind with nine. Rachel Santos (7), Veronica Gehring (7), and Hannah Eliason (6) combined for 20 kills to round out the five-hitter attack. Cathryn Miller directed the offense with 28 assists while adding eight digs and three blocks on the defensive end.
 
Eliason led Malone with four blocks while libero Maggie Hamrock provided a team-high 14 digs. Defensive specialists Abby Hasebein (9) and Sydney Black (8) combined for 17 more digs in the three-set victory.
 
All-Tournament Team
For their work over the weekend, Pioneers Hannah Eliason, Mallory Adams, and Maggie Hamrock were named to the Hall of Fame City Challenge All-Tournament Team.

Up Next
The Pioneers will be off until next Friday, September 7th when they host a talented Hillsdale College squad in their G-MAC opener at 7:00 pm.