CANTON, Ohio - The Malone University volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to Northwood University on Friday evening inside Osborne Hall. The Pioneers fall to 4-21 overall and 2-11 inside the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). The visiting Timberwolves improve to 7-16 and 5-7.
Â
Northwood came from behind to secure the set one win, 25-22. A kill from
Meryn Stacy put Malone ahead 18-14 in the opening contest, but the Timberwolves were able to battle back and converted six of the final seven points in the set to take the 1-0 lead.
Â
Set two was a back-and-forth affair as well with ten ties and six lead changes. At set's end, it was Northwood who claimed a 2-0 lead with a 29-27 victory.
Jaymes Gilbert was 4-for-4 on her swings in the frame and
Brianne Salinas had four kills as well, but it was not enough. The Pioneers had just four attack errors, but the Timberwolves picked up a few extra points throughout set two with five reception errors by Malone.
Â
The home squad put together a wire-to-wire win in set three, 25-20. The Pioneers took an early 9-2 lead and had to withstand a late rally by Northwood in the closing stages. Stacy put the set to rest with a service ace for the set-clinching point.
Â
The fourth and final set of the match was a dominant performance by the Timberwolves. The won the period 25-8 and had 15 kills compared to two errors with a .448 hitting percentage and 88% sideout rate (8-for-9).
Â
The defense for Northwood was key with an 87-68 difference in digs in the match. The offensive numbers were also skewed in favor of the Timberwolves with a 56-38 difference in kills and 12-4 in aces. Gilbert was the lone Pioneer with double-digit kills at 10 and
Helaina Edgar dished out 18 assists to lead the team. Four Malone student-athletes had double-figure dig totals in Edgar (15),
Ella Kresak (14), Stacy (13) and
Emma Weirich (11). Gilbert and
Kassidy Gorsuch combined for five block assists each.
Â
The homestand continues for the Pioneers versus Hillsdale College on Saturday, October 31 at 1:00 P.M.
Â
