SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University volleyball team lost a tightly-contested match to California (Pa.), 3-1, Friday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference competition at Morrow Field House.
 
Slippery Rock (8-9, 0-5 PSAC) took the opening set 25-23, but the Vulcans (11-5, 5-0) rallied back to narrowly take the following three sets 25-23, 25-22 and 25-20 to earn its sixth straight victory.
 
Brooke Bostwick paced The Rock with a season-high 13 kills and three blocks while totaling a team-high .280 attack percentage. Kaley Fucci and Stephanie Jacobsen assisted on the attack with 12 and 10 kills apiece. Fucci also tallied 18 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.
 
Shayla Ray and Lamija Alisic matched Bostwick with three block assists each on a night when The Rock tallied six total blocks.
 
Zoe Rivet and Haley Defibaugh guided The Rock's offense with 23 digs and 22 digs, respectively.
 
Courtney Oberlander made a team-high 20 digs. The 20-dig effort moved her into sixth place in program history in career digs with 1,616. Fellow defensive specialist Jalyn Willard chipped in 10 digs and served The Rock's lone ace of the match.
 
Slippery Rock trailed 4-1 early in the first set, but clawed out of the hole and took a four-point lead at 15-11 thanks to a 14-7 run. The Vulcans battled back to eventually tie the set at 18-18, but SRU responded with a 4-0 run that featured a pair of kills by Fucci to pull ahead 22-18 on the way to its 25-23 victory.
 
SRU found itself trialing 24-18 in the second set, but put on a furious rally in which it accounted for five unanswered points to make it a 24-23 contest. Alisic had two kills during the spurt. However, The Rock's comeback bid came up just short a Maddie McGee finished the set with a kill for a 25-23 Vulcan win.
 
The Rock jumped out to a seemingly convincing 7-1 edge in the third set, but California once again rallied back by completely erasing the deficit and opening up a 19-14 lead. Slippery Rock kept the set close, but was unable to halt the Vulcans' momentum as California held on for another tight 25-23 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The fourth set was another back-and-forth bout, but California was able to take four of the set's final five points en route to a 25-20 match-clinching victory in the fourth set.
 
Rachel Priore led California with 20 kills and eight blocks (two solo / six assisted). Lois van Schalk contributed 13 kills as well.  
 
Slippery Rock returns to action 1 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Seton Hill University at Morrow Field House.


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