CANTON, Ohio – The 2024 season of Malone University volleyball has come to a close after a 3-1 loss to Hillsdale College, but the Pioneers fought hard against the Chargers, who are receiving votes in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll.
 
Senior Grace Rosko with 14 kills led the Pioneer offense and sophomore Brianne Salinas added ten. The team had 14 total aces, with senior Gabby Pelfrey securing a team-high four. Freshmen Helaina Edgar and Emma Weirich each notched three aces apiece. Junior Mallory Meinen had 20 assists. Defensively, Malone outblocked Hillsdale 14-6. Sophomore Jaymes Gilbert was involved in seven blocks (two solo) and Salinas had six (three solo). Senior Macy McCauley led a trio of Pioneers with double-digit digs. McCauley (20), Weirich (14) and Meinen (11) all had over ten for the match.
 
Set one belonged to the Chargers by a score of 25-23. Hillsdale took a 7-2 lead but a pair of aces by Edgar swung momentum back to Malone at 9-9. Rosko came alive in the middle stages of the set as the score was even again at 16-16, but the Chargers pulled away for the eventual set win.
 
A flurry of errors for Hillsdale allowed Malone to claim a 9-6 lead in set two. Freshman Kassidy Gorsuch got involved to keep the Pioneers in front at 15-11; however, the Chargers would eventually reclaim the lead. A solo block by Gilbert knotted the score up at 20-20, but the next five of the final six points went to the visitors in a 25-21 set win for Hillsdale.
 
Meinen scored or assisted on all four points Malone scored to begin the third set. A massive 8-0 run for the Pioneers gave them a whopping 14-6 advantage. Pelfrey had three aces in that scoring spree alone. The lead would balloon all the way to 20-7 thanks to a pair of aces by Weirich. Hillsdale would try to mount a comeback, but the deficit was too much to overcome. The final four points scored by Malone in the set came from kills by Salinas.
 
The Pioneers started the fourth set strong as well with a 6-1 run. The lead changed hands a pair of times in the middle stages of the set, but an ace by McCauley put Malone in front 18-15. A six-point run for the Chargers made it 21-18, but even when the chips were down, the Pioneers kept swinging. Sophomore Annika Nichols had a kill that brought the team to within one point at 24-23, but Hillsdale was able to escape with another 25-23 win to take the match.
 
The year ends for Malone with a 5-24 overall record, 2-14 inside the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). Hillsdale clinched the regular season championship in the G-MAC with a 21-3 regular season and 14-1 mark in league action.