Slippery Rock women’s volleyball had an upsetting weekend with two losses, one against Edinboro University (3-0) and the other against Gannon University (3-2). The Rock dropped to 2-3 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play.
Game one
Edinboro opened the first set with five points right from the jump. The Rock managed two with a service error and kill from Emry Rumbaugh. The 5-2 lead would be the biggest lead the Fighting Scots would get in the set.
After some back and forth, the White and Green claimed the lead 10-8, behind two kills and two attack errors.
It was not until Edinboro tallied four points of their own that they ended up back up front.
Slippery Rock fought hard, tallying seven more kills along with other points.
The set tied at 25, but a kill by Callie Chevalier was not enough compared to the Fighting Scots’ two attack errors and kill that gave them the set.
The Rock came out strong in the second set, claiming three kills from Chevalier, a service ace and an attack error.
The senior outside hitter ranks 16th in program history for career kills. Last season, she recorded 210 kills with a .177 attack percentage.
Edinboro was only able to get two points off before SRU put another three on the scoreboard, holding the lead at 8-2.
The Fighting Scots gained four consecutive points, which only put them two behind The Rock. Then, Edinboro came back with ten back-to-back points, taking the lead 17-11.
Slippery Rock tallied four more points in the remainder of the set, but their efforts came up short.
The beginning of the third set had the lead volleying between both teams before the White and Green got two kills and two attack errors that put them in the lead 10-8.
The teams again took turns earning points behind eight combined kills.
The Fighting Scots jumped back in the lead 16-14 after four points of their own. That did not stop The Rock from continuing to apply pressure, tallying seven more kills, four service and attack errors, and a bad set.
All in all, their efforts fell short when Edinboro ended the game with two attack errors and a kill.
Game two
Shaking off the loss from the previous day, Slippery Rock looked to bounce back against Gannon, but came up short in a five-set thriller.
The Rock opened set one against Gannon with four points right from the jump.
Gannon managed to put some points up with a kill, service, and attack error between two kills from SRU.
Four consecutive points solidified The Rock’s lead. While the Golden Knights never found the front again, they kept pressure on Slippery Rock, only staying a few points behind.
The White and Green kept that momentum in set two, even though Gannon was first to gain points.
Gannon had a strong start in the beginning, but The Rock jumped to the lead 10-9. The Golden Knights never managed to get more than three points in front.
The Rock tallied 15 more points in the set to beat the Golden Knights by three.
The momentum started to slip, and Gannon started set three with seven consecutive points; SRU only got one during that run.
The Rock never found the lead that set, but tallied eight kills along with seven other points, though their efforts fell short. Gannon took the set 25-15.
Set four was much the same, Gannon and Slippery Rock both earning points early in the set. Five points from the Golden Knights put them in the lead 11-4.
SRU’s first four points came from two kills delivered by Lauren VonderHaar and two service errors.
VonderHaar has tallied 134 kills in the season so far, her most in one game being 14 from their game against California University (Pa.) earlier this month.
Gannon’s efforts were just too much for The Rock.
With the sets split 2-2, the pressure was on for the final set.
Slippery Rock came to the set with three points behind a kill, an attack error and a service ace.
The Golden Knights retaliated with three points of their own. SRU held the lead with kills from Chevalier and Gwen McCarthy.
Gannon found luck with a consecutive eight points, and The Rock could not recover.
The set ended 15-13.
Slippery Rock returns to action on the road with games against Indiana University (Pa.) and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Friday and Saturday to continue their PSAC play.
