Slippery Rock women’s volleyball suffered two sweeps over the weekend to Indiana University (Pa.) and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown on the road.
Game one
The first set began with the Crimson Hawks jumping out to an early two-point lead. Slippery Rock would respond by taking two of the next three behind kills from freshman Emry Rumbaugh and junior Kaitlyn Danszczak.
IUP would regain their two-point lead following back-to-back bad sets from The Rock, before again responding with two kills from Danszczak and Callie Chevalier.
Six of the next seven points went to the Hawks, before a kill from Ava Haynes temporarily stopped the bleeding. Another four-point streak from IUP extended their lead to 15-6.
Both teams kept pace with each other, before a kill from Delaney Concannon ended the first set in favor of IUP, 25-19.
Set two got off to a solid start for The Rock, going up 1-0 early. Unfortunately, the Crimson Hawks would catch fire, taking the next 12 straight points. A service error committed by Brooke Kessler of IUP ended their streak, leading 12-2.
After some back-and-forth, Slippery Rock would find a groove of their own, winning nine points in a row to bring the set back to 15-19. The Hawks would respond by immediately winning the next five points. SRU would gain two more points, before a kill from Charlotte Potvin ended the set in favor of IUP, 25-17.
Set three saw the Hawks jump ahead 11-4, before both teams struggled to find sustainable momentum. Ahead by seven, an attack error by Victoria Nalbach secured the win for the Hawks, matching the score of the previous set, 25-17.
IUP led in all six statistical team categories, including 42 kills to 23, 8 blocks to 2, and 28 assists to 22.
For The Rock, Chevalier and Rumbaugh led the team with five kills each. Paityn Krause recorded ten assists, followed by Jaeden Yost with nine. Kara Pasquale and Marley Annis combined for 19 digs.
Game two
Saturday’s contest against Pitt-Johnstown got off to a solid start, with the Rock leading 3-0 in set one behind kills from Rumbaugh and sophomore Gwen McCarthy. Despite this, the Mountain Cats would quickly respond, winning nine of the next ten points.
Slippery Rock took 10 of the next 13, before the teams would battle back and forth, with the White and Green building as big as a three-point lead, going ahead 19-16.
Despite this, UPJ would build momentum, taking a 24-21 lead. The Rock fought back, tying up the set behind three attack errors by the Mountain Cats.
Unfortunately, the Rock’s efforts would fall just short, with UPJ winning the set 27-25.
In set two, Slippery Rock got out to an early 4-1 lead, behind two kills from Nalbach and a pair of attack errors. The teams would trade scores before UPJ went on a 5-point streak, taking the lead 12-11. Slippery Rock would respond with two points of their own, before another five point streak put SRU down 17-13.
An attack error by Annis and a pair of kills from Zuro Cirino ended the set 25-20.
Set three saw SRU get off to a 7-6 lead after 13 serves. After this, UPJ momentarily caught fire, going on a five-point streak. Despite this, SRU would fight back, winning five of the next seven.
A four-point streak put the Rock ahead, 18-16. After that, UPJ won nine of the last 12 serves, and took the set 25-21, earning the sweep.
Despite the loss, Slippery Rock led the game in blocks with 10-6.
VonderHaar led with eight kills, Rambaugh trailed with seven and McCarthy with six. Krause led with 15 assists, and Pasquale with 19 digs.
After the weekend, Slippery Rock dropped to 2-5 in the PSAC, and currently sits seventh in the PSAC West, just ahead of Seton Hill (1-5).
Slippery Rock returns to Morrow Field House to host Clarion on Oct. 24.
