CANTON, Ohio -- This weekend the Malone University volleyball program hosted the annual Hall of Fame City Challenge.

In the round robin tournament the Pioneers played non-conference matches against Slippery Rock University, Saginaw Valley State University, Seton Hill University, and Fairmont State University. 

Malone opened up the tournament on Friday morning with a thrilling five-set victory over The Rock of Slippery Rock. Unfortunately the Pioneers went down in straight sets in each of the next three matches this weekend. 

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS
Friday vs. Slippery Rock | Box Score
After The Rock opened up the match by winning the opening set 25-17, the Pioneers responded with back-to-back 25-21 wins in sets two and three to take a 2-1 lead. 

Slippery Rock battled back to take the fourth set 25-22, forcing a decisive fifth set.

The first team to 15 points would not be enough in set five. SRU was up 16-15, before Malone rattled off three points in a row on kills by Grace Rosko, Anna Mallette, and a service ace from Ri'Gyn Humes to pick up the win, much to the delight of the crowd inside Osborne Hall.

Friday vs. Saginaw Valley State | Box Score
Saginaw's defense stymied Malone's offensive the attack for most of the evening. The Pioneers made 26 attack errors, and the Cardinal defense came up with 8 total blocks. 

Despite being down 2-0 in the match, Malone had a rally going in the third set when a CC Gurney kill tied the score at 23-23. Unfortunately SVSU scored the next two points to close out the 3-0 win.

Saturday vs. Seton Hill | Box Score
Day two of the tournament opened up with the Pioneers on the floor again. Despite losing in straight sets, the match was tightly contested the entire way with the final scores being: 26-24, 25-23, 26-24 in favor of the Griffins. 

The Pioneers actually topped Seton Hill in kills 44-39, but once again some crucial miscues hurt Malone. MU made nine more errors than the Griffins. 

Saturday vs. Fairmont State | Box Score
The ninth match of the tournament was the final one of the weekend for Malone. 

Fairmont came out of the gate with a 25-23 win in set one, and grabbed a commanding 2-0 lead with a 25-13 set two victory. The Falcons were then able to close out the match in three sets with a 25-22 victory in set three. 

Anna Mallette had a stellar game with 14 kills, but it was not enough to overcome Fairmont's offensive outburst. The Falcons hit .228 as a team, coming down with 42 kills to just 28 for Malone.

PIONEER POINTS

• Anna Mallette opened up the weekend with a season-high 16 kills in the win over Slippery Rock. She now has a team-high 75 kills on the season. 
• CC Gurney really provided a spark to the lineup in the third match against Seton Hill. The junior was inserted into the lineup in the second set, and finished with nine total kills, tying Kristen Hankins for the team lead. 
• Hankins put down a season-high six total blocks in the win over Slippery Rock, and finished the weekend with 15 total blocks. 
• Hallie Pinkerton had a season-high 36 digs in the Slippery Rock match. She now leads the Pioneers with 122 digs on the season.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Pioneers travel to West Liberty University on Tuesday night for another non-conference match, before turning their attention to Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play next weekend.