The Malone University volleyball team traveled to Ursuline College on Saturday and picked up its first Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) win of the season with a three-set victory over the Arrows. The Pioneers hit a season-high .276 en route to a 25-22, 25-14, 25-16 triumph. With the win, Malone is now 5-5 on the season and 1-1 in the conference.
 
Recap
In a competitive first set, Malone grabbed its largest lead of the frame at 21-17 on a kill by Faith Lau before Ursuline responded with four consecutive points to tie it at 21-21. The Pioneers then pulled away, winning four of the next five points to secure the set on another kill by Lau and an Ursuline attack error.
 
Taking advantage of Ursuline's .000 attacking percentage in the second set, Malone shot out to a 6-1 lead early on and then ran away with the set, using a 7-0 run midway through. In the final frame, Malone hit an ultra-efficient .375, totaling 19 kills and just one attack error. The Pioneers trailed 10-8 in the frame, but rode the momentum of a 6-0 run to the straight-sets victory.
 
Mallory Adams hit a staggering .542 on her way to a season-high 14 kills. In the third set alone, Adams tallied seven kills on just 10 swings. Rachel Santos produced an impressive .545 attacking percentage with seven kills on 11 swings in the match. Hannah Eliason registered nine kills while Veronica Gehring chipped in with seven. Senior setter Cathryn Miller finished with 35 assists, marking the most in a three-set match since her freshman season. 
 
As a team, Malone totaled 44 kills compared to just nine attack errors. The nine errors were the second-fewest by the Pioneers in a match in the last three seasons.
 
Defensively for Malone, Abby Hasebein led the team with 13 digs, Maggie Hamrockl added 11, and Miller totaled nine. Freshman Leyla Davis, seeing her first significant collegiate action, scooped up eight digs in the match. Sydney Black provided seven digs along with three aces in the service game. Eliason recorded a team-high five blocks while Miller added three.
 
Up Next
Malone will head to Tiffin on Tuesday for another road conference match. First serve is set for 7:00 pm.