CANTON, Ohio -- The Malone University volleyball team opened up their final weekend of home matches by hosting the Lake Erie College Storm on Friday. 

The Pioneers (9-17, 4-10 G-MAC) cruised to a sweep of the Storm (4-23, 1-11 G-MAC), putting Lake Erie away with set scores of 25-20, 25-21, 25-20. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Malone set the stage early on for the way the night would go. The Pioneers scored the first five points of the opening set unanswered to grab the early lead. 

The Storm rallied back a couple of different times throughout the set, cutting MU's lead down to 10-9 and 16-15 on two different occasions.

However, Malone would not be denied down the stretch.

Anna Hopple put down two of her six kills, Ri'Gyn Humes added a point, and Macy McCauley scored an ace to put the Pioneers ahead 20-15. 

After a bit of a rally by the Storm, back-to-back kills from Grace Rosko and Humes put MU up 23-18 and forced LEC to call timeout. 

Lake Erie got as close as 23-20, but two more kills from Rosko gave Malone the 25-20 set one win. 

In set two it was the Storm who grabbed an early advantage, and forced the Pioneers to mount a comeback. 

LEC led 15-14 midway through the set before a huge run by Malone gave the Pioneers a lead they never surrendered. 

It was ultimately a 4-0 run by MU that helped shift the momentum. 

The Storm refused to go quietly, but another Hopple kill finished off a 25-21 set two win for Malone. 

Despite trailing 2-0 in the match, Lake Erie made things interesting in the third set, especially early on. 

The Storm jumped out a 6-3 lead. 

Malone cut the deficit down to 9-7, and then started to put LEC away with seven answered points. 

The 7-0 run was capped off with a service ace from Ri'Gyn Humes to put MU up 14-9. 

The Pioneers stretched their advantage out to 17-10, before settling for the 25-20 set win. 


PIONEER POINTS

• After being held somewhat in check last week, Anna Mallette topped double-digit kills for the fifteenth time this season. The junior led Malone's offense with eleven kills. 
• Ri'Gyn Humes totaled eleven total points with eight kills and two service aces. 
• Molly Bullion (15) and Gabby Pelfrey (12) both had double-digit assists.
• Defensively, Macy McCauley had a team-high 13 digs. Kristen Hankins pushed her season total out to 83 with three total blocks.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Pioneers will play their final home match of the 2021 season tomorrow afternoon. First serve against the Ursuline College Arrows is set for 1:00 p.m.