HILLSDALE, Mich. -- The Malone University volleyball program opened up Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play on Friday night with a trip to Hillsdale College.

The Chargers came into the weekend ranked as the No. 18 team in the most recent AVCA NCAA Division II National Top-25 Poll. 

Hillsdale (7-2, 1-0 G-MAC) used a very efficient offensive attack to take care of the upset minded Pioneers (4-6, 0-1 G-MAC) by a final score of 3-1, and set scores of 25-12, 23-25, 25-16, 25-20. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Hillsdale's defense gave Malone fits in the first set, as the Pioneers were only able to put down four kills in a 25-12 loss. 

Things changed in set two however. 

Despite falling behind 4-1 early on, the Pioneers rallied back to take a 12-10 lead. 

A pair of Charger errors, combined with a kill from Macy McCauley put Malone up 17-13.

Hillsdale refused to go quietly. The Chargers responded with four consecutive points of their own to tie the set at 19-19.

A Grace Rosko kill swung momentum back in favor of Malone. The Pioneers then closed the set by winning five of the last eight points to pick up a 25-23 win, and even up the match at 1-1. 

Unfortunately for Malone, Hillsdale's offense found their stride again in sets three and four. The Chargers hit over .300 down the stretch, putting down 15+ kills in each of the final two sets to pick up the 3-1 G-MAC win.  

PIONEER POINTS

• Anna Mallette led Malone with 10 kills. It is the third straight time, and fifth time overall this year, that she has topped the double-digit kill mark. 
• Molly Bullion's team-high 18 assists give her 154 on the season.
• Macy McCauley led the Pioneer defense with 20 digs. That number pushes her over 100 digs for the season, becoming the fourth Pioneer player to reach that mark so far this year. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Malone's road trip continues tomorrow afternoon with a trip to the University of Findlay. First serve against the Oilers is set for 2:00 p.m.