In a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) East Division battle for first-place, the Malone University volleyball team came up short in a lengthy five-set match against Walsh University Friday night in North Canton by the final scores of 21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 10-15.
 
With the loss, their first in the last seven matches, the Pioneers fell to 11-7 on the season and 7-3 in the G-MAC. Walsh, meanwhile, improved to 10-8 overall and 7-3 in the G-MAC and took over first place by virtue of the tiebreaker over Malone. The two squads will meet again for a rematch in Malone's Osborne Hall on Tuesday, October 30th.
 
Recap
In an expectedly close match in front of a packed Walsh gymnasium, Malone fired out to a five-point advantage in the first set, using a 10-1 run to take a 15-10 lead. That lead slowly dissipated, however, before Walsh broke a 21-21 tie with four straight points to earn the set. The Pioneers, who have now lost seven in a row to Walsh, committed 12 attack errors in the opening frame.
 
Malone was guilty of just nine attack errors over the remainder of the match, including just one in the second set, during which the Pioneers never trailed. A back-and-forth third set was highlighted by eight ties and six lead changes. Tied for the final time at 18-18, Walsh pulled away on a 5-1 run and eventually claimed the set 25-22.
 
In response, Malone rushed out to an 8-1 lead in the fourth frame and held off a Walsh comeback attempt. Backed by five fourth-set kills by Rachel Santos, the Pioneers forced a decisive fifth set with the 25-20 win. The hosts answered with their own 8-1 run to start the final set as Malone never came within four points the rest of the way out.
 
Hannah Eliason and Veronica Gehring both recorded 12 kills to lead the Malone attack. Mallory Adams totaled 10 kills, Santos finished with nine, and Faith Lau added seven kills to go along with two aces. Setter Cathryn Miller distributed 43 assists in the losing effort.
 
Defensively, Maggie Hamrock collected a season-high 25 digs, including 22 over the first three sets. Lau tied a career-high with 18 digs while Miller and Sydney Black scooped up eight each. At the net, Adams provided seven blocks, Santos added five blocks, and Gehring and Eliason registered three apiece.
 
The Walsh defense, especially the back row, was exceptional, compiling 101 digs, including 26 by libero Amanda Adoranti. Lauren Loucks (25) and Halli Schroeder (19) combined on 44 of the Cavaliers' 64 kills.
 
Up Next
Malone will look to bounce back on Saturday against nationally-ranked Wheeling Jesuit at home at 12:00 pm.