CANTON, Ohio -- On Tuesday night, for the first the first time in over two weeks, the Malone University volleyball team returned to Osborne Hall.

The Pioneers welcomed in cross-town rival Walsh University for a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) match. 

The first set needed extra points before the Cavaliers prevailed. Walsh (6-6, 2-3 G-MAC) then went on to take the next two sets to complete the sweep of the Pioneers (6-8, 2-3 G-MAC) by set scores of 28-26, 25-17, 25-14. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Malone fell behind early in set one, before back-to-back kills from Kristen Hankins and Anna Hopple helped give the Pioneers a 6-5 lead.

A Walsh attacking error made it 7-5 in favor of Malone, and sent the Osborne Hall crowd into a frenzy. 

The entire first set was back-and-forth with neither team leading by more than just one or two points.

With Walsh leading 24-23 the Pioneers scored consecutive points on kills from Macy McCauley and Anna Hopple to go up 25-24. 

Unfortunately Malone could not close out the set. Walsh fought back to even it up at 25-25, before eventually scoring the 28-26 win.

The Cavaliers carried that momentum through the rest of the match. Their hitting percentage never fell below .300 the rest of the way en route to a 25-17 win in set two, and a 25-14 win in set three. 


PIONEER POINTS

• Nine different players put down at least one kill for the Pioneers, but freshman Grace Rosko led Malone's offense with a career-high 8 kills. 
• Gabby Pelfrey posted a team-high 14 assists. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Malone is back at home this weekend for back-to-back G-MAC matches. First up, the Pioneers host Cedarville University on Friday night. First serve is slated for 7:00 p.m.