INDIANA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University volleyball team lost to Indiana (Pa.) in four sets (25-19, 21-25, 13-25, 9-25) in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference competition on the road Saturday afternoon.
The Crimson Hawks (16-6, 7-2 PSAC) took the first set 25-19 before Slippery Rock (9-12, 1-8 PSAC) evened the match with a 25-21 victory in the second. However, Indiana closed the match strong with back-to-back 25-13, 25-9 wins in the third and fourth sets to close out the victory.
Erinn Kahoe led the way for The Rock with 11 kills and two blocks. Kahoe finished the match with a .318 attack percentage.
Kaley Fucci also eclipsed the double-digit kill plateau with 10 to go with one ace, one block and eight digs.
Shayla Ray and
Brooke Bostwick rounded out The Rock's attack as Bostwick tallied six kills with Ray producing five.
Zoe Rivet guided the offense with a team-high 23 assists. Fellow setter
Haley Defibaugh made a Rock-best 18 digs.
After losing the opener, Slippery Rock found itself trailing 21-19 in the second set before rattling off six unanswered points to take the set 25-21. Fucci, Bostwick and Kahoe all had kills during the run while The Rock's defensive presence forced the Crimson Hawks into two attack errors, one of which was a block by the duo of Rivet and Bostwick, and a ball handling miscue.
However, the second set would be the apex of the evening for The Rock as IUP stormed out to a 14-3 lead in the third set on the way to a 25-13 victory. The fourth set saw IUP take a 17-6 lead before closing the match with a 25-9 match-clinching win.
Natalie Cignetti led IUP to the win with 22 kills. Alexis Anderson and Sami Brown added 14 kills and 12 kills apiece in the win as well.
As a team, Indiana held advantages over The Rock in attack percentage (.285-.066), blocks (9-3) and aces (2-1).
Slippery Rock returns to action 7 p.m. Oct. 20 against Mercyhurst University at Morrow Field House in what will be the start of a four-match Rock homestand.
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