PAINESVILLE, Ohio - The Malone University volleyball team came away with a 3-1 victory over Lake Erie College on Saturday to rebound from their loss at Walsh one night ago. The Pioneers battled the entire match to move to 5-10 and 4-3 inside the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) while the Storm fall to 6-10 and 2-6 in the league.
 
A flurry of errors by Lake Erie helped propel Malone to a 13-6 lead in set one. The Storm had a negative hitting percentage in the period that led to a 25-17 victory for the Pioneers. Laiken Wallick and Annika Nichols led the Malone offense that tallied 12 first set kills.
 
Set two was the only one that went to the home squad, but the Pioneers led 17-15 after a kill by Tori Dawson. From there, the Storm scored six consecutive points and then the final three as well in a 25-21 set win. This was the only set where Lake Erie had a hitting percentage above .100 at .211 (15 kills, 7 errors).
 
Malone regained control of the match in set three via a 25-21 victory of their own. Four blocks helped swing momentum in favor of the Pioneers in the period, including a solo block by Jaymes Gilbert. They also did not hurt themselves with a match-low four attack errors.
 
In set four, Malone was dominant with 16 kills and a .314 hitting percentage. Three kills by Wallick fueled a 9-2 edge for the Pioneers to begin the set and the team did not trail in the fourth. Gilbert had four more kills en route to a match-high 13 during a scoring run that put Malone ahead 18-10. 25-16 was the final in the set, the largest gap in any set in the match.
 
The team stats were mostly even with the Pioneers at a slight advantage in points (64-59) and kills (51-44). Each team had six aces and the Storm had one more dig at 65-64. Joining Gilbert in double-figure kills was Dawson with ten. That duo also combined for four blocks. Helaina Edgar (20) and Mikayla Yockey (18) split assists almost evenly. Gilbert recorded a double-double with 13 digs along with Madalyn Coblentz.
 
Next weekend, Malone will take part in the Midwest Region Crossover in Hammond, Indiana. Their opponents and match times will be determined next week.