CANTON, Ohio - The Malone University volleyball team celebrated their seniors Annika Nichols and Laiken Wallick on Saturday before their 3-2 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan College. The Pioneers had to battle hard in a back-and-forth match to claim the win and move to 6-14 overall and 5-4 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). The Panthers are now 1-18 and are still winless at 0-9 in league play.
 
Helaina Edgar orchestrated an offense that saw four different student-athletes record double-figure kill totals with 43 assists, a new career-high. Jaymes Gilbert (13), Nichols (12), Hailey Conrad (12) and Brianne Salinas (10) were the attackers that led in kills. The team's 73 points were the second-most in a match this season. The defense also stepped up in a big way with Jaclyn Jundzilo and Edgar at 14 digs each. Gilbert (11) and Emma Weirich (10) were in double-digits as well.
 
Blocks by Conrad and Salinas set up Malone for a positive first set where the offense hit .500 with 16 kills and two errors. Gilbert had five first set kills and the team had a 16-8 difference in digs. A 10-1 scoring run mid-set for the Pioneers set up a 25-15 triumph for the home squad.
 
Set two would not have the same positive result for Malone as they fell by the same score of 25-15. They went from a great hitting percentage in the first to a negative hitting percentage in the second while Kentucky Wesleyan had their best percentages of the match in that period.
 
The 25-15 score would swing back to the Pioneers in the third set. Malone was an impressive 12-of-16 on sideouts and ended the set strong with five consecutive points. Nichols and Gilbert led the way with four points apiece in the third and the team overcame an early deficit in the period.
 
A quick start for the Panthers in the fourth set fueled a 25-18 win for the visiting team. Kentucky Wesleyan rattled off six points in a row to start the fourth, but a timeout helped stop the run and the Pioneers crawled back into the set and eventually tied it up at 8-8. Malone was able to hold on after one Panther run, but an onslaught from the opponents forced a fifth set.
 
Osborne Hall would become electric in the winner-take-all fifth when the Pioneers put up four straight to begin the set. Malone had eight kills and just one error as they seized momentum from the start. Back-to-back kills by Gilbert and Nichols secured the home victory at 15-8.
 
The Pioneers are in the midst of a five-match homestand that continues on Friday, October 31 at 7:00 P.M. when the University of Findlay comes to Canton, Ohio.