(Note: all stats are unofficial)
 
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Slippery Rock University volleyball team began its 2017 season in fine fashion Saturday with a pair of wins at the Viking Virginia Beach Invitational in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
 
Slippery Rock cruised to a 3-0 (25-8, 25-22, 25-10) shutout of host Elizabeth City State University to begin the afternoon before besting Converse College 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 25-11) to end the day.
 
Six different Rock players totaled at least 10 kills over the two matches with freshman middle hitter Erinn Kahoe leading the way with 15 kills and a solid .364 hitting percentage. She was joined in the double-digit kill club on the day by Shayla Ray (14 kills / .524 hitting percentage), Kaley Fucci (13), Brooke Bostwick (13), Stephanie Jacobsen (11) and Kelsey Boyle (10).
 
Additionally, Kahoe and Bostwick both produced seven blocks over the two matches with Bostwick also serving up four aces. Zoe Rivet matched Bostwick with four aces of her own.
 
MATCH 1: Slippery Rock 3 – Elizabeth City State 0
The Rock's first match of the 2017 season went as well as one could expect as SRU finished the three-set contest with a .327 attack percentage while limiting Elizabeth City State to a -.048 attack mark.
 
With the opening set tied at 4-4, The Rock proceeded to go on a 12-1 run to take a commanding 16-5 edge en route to the 25-8 triumph. SRU found itself down 20-16 in the second set before claiming a 25-22 victory after going on a set-clinching 9-2 spurt to end the game. Slippery Rock returned to its first set form in the third by jumping out to a 10-3 lead on the way to its 25-10 win in the match's final set.
 
Bostwick paced The Rock against the Vikings with a six-kill, four-ace, two-block effort. Gabrielle Barnes added seven kills while the trio of Ray, Shannon Ream and Lamija Alisic chipped in six kills as well.
 
Hannah Lombardo led all setters with 16 assists with Rivet (14) and Haley Defibaugh (10) also finishing with 10 or more assists. Rounding out The Rock's top performers was Courtney Oberlander and Jalyn Willard; the duo posted 12 and 11 digs, respectively.
 
MATCH 2: Slippery Rock 3 – Converse 1
The Rock's second match of the afternoon proved to be a much tougher contest as three out of the four sets were decided by six points or less.
 
The Rock took the first set of the match and found itself leading by two points late in the second (23-21) before Converse scored four straight points to rally past SRU and even the match at one set apiece. Much like the second set, Slippery Rock once again worked its way to a two-point edge late in third at 18-16. However, there would be no Converse comeback this time as The Rock produced seven of the set's final 10 points to claim a 25-19 win and pull ahead two sets to one.
 
SRU left no doubt in the fourth and final set as it jumped out to an 11-2 lead en route to a 25-11 match-clinching victory.
 
Fucci and Kahoe led The Rock attack with 12 and 10 kills apiece with Kahoe also coming up with five blocks. Bostwick was once again a force inside as well with seven kills and five blocks.
 
Defibaugh guided the offense with 20 assists to go with 12 digs for her first double-double of the year. Rivet chipped in 18 assists and a match-best four aces and Oberlander made a team-best 16 digs defensively.
 
Slippery Rock will look to remain perfect at the Viking Invitational with two more wins Sunday against Mount Olive and Alaska Fairbanks. SRU and Mount Olive are scheduled for a 9 a.m. start time while the SRU-Fairbanks tilt is slated to start at 3 p.m.


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