OWENSBORO, Ky. -- The Malone University volleyball team opened up a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) road trip on Friday night with a match at Kentucky Wesleyan College.
The Pioneers (8-14, 3-7 G-MAC) easily dispatched of the Panthers (2-19, 0-10 G-MAC) in straight sets. The final set scores in favor of Malone were 26-24, 25-22, 25-11.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Both sides went on a handful of scoring runs in the opening set, but neither team was able to create much distance from their opponent.
Back-to-back kills from
Grace Rosko, plus a kill from
Sara Ice gave Malone a 19-17 lead late.
Unfortunately the Panthers responded with four consecutive points of their own to move ahead 21-19.
The Pioneers rallied back, and actually took a 24-22 advantage on a service ace by
Ri'Gyn Humes.
KWC fought to tie things up at 24-24, but kills from
Kristen Hankins and
Anna Hopple gave Malone the 26-24 set one win.
Set two was just as tightly contested.
Once again Malone found themselves leading late with a chance to close out the set before a big Panther rally.
An attack error by KWC put the Pioneers ahead 23-17.
The Panthers responded by scoring the next five points unanswered to make the score 23-22.
Malone answered with a kill from Rosko, and then
Hallie Pinkerton's ace closed out the 25-22 set two victory.
The third set was all Pioneers.
Malone's defense limited KWC to just five kills, and a .028 hitting percentage.
On the offensive side of the net the Pioneers put down 13 kills, and made just two errors.
The Pioneers jumped out to an early 13-3 lead when a 7-0 run was capped off by a kill from
Sara Ice.
Malone went on to easily finish off the sweep of the Panthers with a 25-11 win in the final set.
PIONEER POINTS
- Malone had a huge advantage from the service line. The Pioneers had ten total aces on the match, including a team-high four from Ri'Gyn Humes.
- The Pioneers' offensive attack was well balanced. Sara Ice led the way with nine kills while Grace Rosko added eight and Anna Mallette had seven.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The current road trip wraps up tomorrow afternoon at Trevecca Nazarene University. The match in Nashville is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. ET.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the Malone University athletic programs this year follow the Pioneers on Twitter and Instagram, like Malone University Athletics on Facebook or visit malonepioneers.com.
