It took every bit of five sets, but the Malone University volleyball team came out on top of a Great Midwest Athletic Conference showdown against Lake Erie College Tuesday night in Osborne Hall by the final score of 25-20, 25-27, 14-25, 25-20, 15-12.
 
The win marked the sixth consecutive for the Pioneers, who climbed to 11-6 on the season and 7-2 in the G-MAC. Tuesday's win combined with the Walsh loss to Findlay put Malone in sole possession of first-place in the G-MAC East Division Standings. Lake Erie dropped to third place at 5-3 in the G-MAC and 10-5 overall.
 
Recap
The two-hour, 15-minute marathon match was close from the get-go; the first set featured 11 ties as neither team could muster momentum. Down 19-18, Malone finally pulled away with a game-clinching 7-1 run that was capped off by Hannah Eliason's seventh kill of the frame.
 
The Pioneers raced out to a 10-5 lead in the second set, but the Storm slowly but surely chipped away.. Facing a 22-18 deficit, Lake Erie rattled off a 6-1 run and eventually evened the match on their third-set point of the frame. Still feeling the sting of the second-set loss, Malone looked out of sorts in the third frame, trailing from start to finish as Lake Erie opened up a two-sets-to-one lead.
 
Head coach Tanya Hockman's squad showed its tenacity in the fourth set, fighting back from an early four-point deficit to force a fifth set. The Pioneers, feeding off the energy from an enthusiastic student section, took advantage of nine Lake Erie attack errors while limiting their mistakes to just one.
 
Malone did not commit a single attack error in an exciting final frame that featured 10 Pioneer kills and three service aces by freshman Abby Hasebein. Her third ace put the Pioneers up 7-2 before the Storm once again battled back. Using a 4-0 run, Lake Erie closed to within one point at 10-9, but a kill by Mallory Adams kept Malone in front by two.
 
The Storm closed to within one point twice more, but each time were countered by the Pioneers. Holding on to a 12-11 advantage, a kill by Brooklyn Sullivan and two more by Veronica Gehring sealed the five-set triumph for the Pioneers.
 
Malone equaled a season-high with 63 kills in the match, 21 of which came from Hannah Eliason on a career-high night. Eliason's previous career-high was 17 set earlier in the season. Veronica Gehring, who finished with five kills in the fifth set, tied her career-high with 17 kills, none bigger then the match-clincher.
 
Senior Mallory Adams added 10 kills from the middle while Faith Lau added nine kills from the outside. Senior setter Cathryn Miller handed out 54 assists, two shy of a career-high.
 
Abby Hasebein was fantastic on the defensive end, keeping rallies alive all night long. She finished with a match-high 26 digs, which nearly doubled her previous career-high. Hasebein added five aces in the service game.
 
Libero Maggie Hamrock totaled 17 digs, Lau tallied 13, and Miller chipped in with 11 to complete her fifth double-double of the season. Eliason and Adams each provided three blocks.

Lake Erie was led by Crystal Kedroske, who finished with 19 kills, 25 digs, and three blocks. Setter Alexis Thomas collected 56 assists and 17 digs.
 
Up Next
Malone will travel to North Canton on Friday night to face Walsh in an all-important road match with first place on the line.