NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- On Friday night the Malone University volleyball team played their first match away from Osborne Hall in over a month. The Pioneers made the short trip across town to battle rival Walsh University in Great Midwest Athletic Conference action. 

Unfortunately for the Pioneers (2-7, 2-7 G-MAC) the Cavaliers (8-1, 8-1 G-MAC) showed why they are ranked as the No. 7 team in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) NCAA Division II Top-25 Poll with a three-set, 25-19, 25-20, 25-13 win. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Walsh opened up the night scoring eight of the first nine points in the match. Malone rallied back though, getting to within just three points when back-to-back Anna Mallette kills and a Ri'Gyn Humes service ace made it 15-12. 

Unfortunately Walsh was able to answer the Pioneer run and eventually close out the first set with a 25-19 win. 

Malone came out strong in set two. With the set tied at 9-9 the Pioneers rattled off four consecutive points to take a 13-9 lead. Malone's defense forced Walsh into two errors and Mallette put down two more kills to give the Pioneers the four point advantage. 

Malone later stretched their lead out to 16-11 on an Abbie Swaino service ace, and looked poised to even up the match. 

The Cavaliers did not go quietly though. They scored six unanswered points which allowed them to take a 17-16 lead. Walsh went on to outscore Malone 8-4 the rest of the way to pick up a 25-20 set two win, and take a 2-0 advantage in the match.

Walsh built on the momentum created from the comeback to get out to an early 5-1 lead in the third set. Malone fought hard, but the Cavaliers seemingly answered every Pioneer point with two of their own, eventually going on to sweep the match with a 25-13 win in set three. 

PIONEER POINTS

• Senior Brooklyn Sullivan had another strong night offensively for Malone. She finished with a .313 hitting percentage and eight kills. She is now third on the team with 48 kills this season. 

• Cierra Gurney turned in her best statistical performance of the season, tying both Sullivan and Anna Mallette with eight kills.

• Tonight's match was the third time this season the Pioneers have had to take on a NCAA Division II Top-25 program.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Malone will close out the 2021 regular season next weekend with a pair of road matches. First up is a trip to Lake Erie College on March 5. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.