CANTON, Ohio -- The Malone University volleyball team closed out their recent homestand on Saturday by hosting the Ashland University Eagles for a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) match. 

The Eagles, who are the newest member of the G-MAC, came in leading the league's south division. 

Ashland (9-9, 7-1 G-MAC) picked up the win over Malone (6-12, 2-7) in straight sets: 25-18, 25-15, 25-22. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Eagles led by as many as eleven points in the opening set, before holding off a late Malone rally to score the 25-18 win. 

Ashland's offensive attack continued to hit their stride in the second set. AU put down 12 kills offensively, and forced Malone into 10 errors defensively en route to a 25-15 win.

The third set featured much more back-and-forth action on both sides.

Malone jumped out to a 7-5 lead on a kill from CC Gurney, and then fought back after a big Ashland run put the Eagles ahead 9-7. 

A ball handling error from AU made it 9-8, and then the Pioneers followed with three straight kills to take an 11-9 lead. The points came on swings by Anna Hopple and Anna Mallette. 

Unfortunately for Malone, their last lead of the contest came at 17-16.  

The two teams continued to trade points down the stretch, but the Eagles won five of the last seven points to take set three 25-22 and complete the 3-0 match sweep. 


PIONEER POINTS

• Sara Ice put down seven kills on the afternoon. The freshman now has 25 total kills in the last four matches. 
• CC Gurney notched a .600 attack percentage with four kills on just five attempts.
• Anna Mallette led the team offensively with 11 kills
• Grace Rosko and Kristen Hankins each had assists on three of the Pioneers' four blocks.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Pioneers will compete in the 2021 Midwest Region Crossover in Hammond, Indiana next weekend. The finalized seeding and crossover schedule will be announced on Monday.