INSTITUTE, W. Va. – The Slippery Rock University volleyball team remained undefeated in 2017 with a pair of wins Friday at the PSAC-MEC Crossover in Institute, West Virginia.
 
The Rock began the day with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-14, 27-29, 25-23) victory over host West Virginia State before closing the evening out with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-20) blanking of Urbana University.
 
With the wins, Slippery Rock improves its record to 6-0 on the year overall. The six straight wins represent the fourth longest consecutive-win streak to start a season in program history. Four of The Rock's six wins this season have come in three sets.
 
Shayla Ray led a large contingent of Rock hitters who had strong performances Friday as she combined over the two matches to record 19 kills and eight blocks. Erinn Kahoe continued the strong start to her collegiate career with 18 kills and 10 blocks on the day while Kaley Fucci added 17 kills and Brooke Bostwick came away with nine blocks.
 
Haley Defibaugh passed out a total of 40 assists over the two matches, which pushed her past Kim Wilson (2008-10) for the seventh most assists by a Rock setter in program history at 1,642. Courtney Oberlander also climbed up The Rock's record books after a 50-dig performance Friday. Oberlander now has 1,352 digs, the 12th most in program history.
 
MATCH 1: Slippery Rock 3 – West Virginia State 1
SRU sailed through the opening two sets of the day with 25-19, 25-14 victories, but the host Yellow Jackets avoided the shutout thanks to a 29-27 win in the third.
 
WVSU seemed poised to run away with the third set after jumping out to a 21-14 lead, but Slippery Rock battled back to tie the contest at 25-25 thanks to an impressive 11-4 run. Fucci led SRU over the spurt with three kills. SRU and the Yellow Jackets went on to trade points, but with the game tied at 27-27, West Virginia State was able to close out the win with a pair of points off of a kill by Tabi Pontious and an SRU attack error.
 
West Virginia State kept the pressure on SRU in the fourth set and found itself leading The Rock, 19-17. However, Slippery Rock once again stormed back with a 4-0 run to take a 21-19 edge thanks in part to three consecutive blocks. The Rock proceeded to close out the set, and the match, by scoring four of the next eight points for a 25-23 victory.
 
Ray, Bostwick and Fucci all recorded nine kills against WVSU. Kahoe, who finished with four blocks as well, and Kelsey Boyle chipped in eight kills apiece with Stephanie Jacobsen rounding out the top attackers with six kills.
 
Defibaugh guided the offense with 22 assists to go with 12 digs for a double-double. Fellow setter Zoe Rivet added 19 assists and 10 digs for a double-double as well. Oberlander made 29 digs, falling one shy of her fifth career 30-dig match.  
 
MATCH 2: Slippery Rock 3 – Urbana 0
Slippery Rock was never seriously challenged in the nightcap as The Rock held leads over Urbana of at least seven points in all three sets en route to the 25-16, 25-14, 25-20 triumph.
 
Kahoe and Ray paced The Rock in the second match of the day with Kahoe tallying 10 kills and six blocks and Ray nearly matching her output at 10 kills and five blocks. Bostwick equaled Kahoe's match-high in blocks with six as well. Through six matches, the duo of Kahoe and Bostwick ranks first and second on the team in blocks with 24 and 22, respectively.
 
Fucci also produced eight kills to round out SRU's offensive attack. Defibaugh had a match-best 18 assists to go with one ace and eight digs. Rivet contributed 14 assists and one ace as well in the win.
 
As a team, SRU had a .250 attack percentage against the Blue Knights, which is its second highest percentage in a match this year.
 
Slippery Rock will look to finish its time at the PSAC-MEC Crossover with two more wins Saturday when it plays Notre Dame College at 10 a.m. and the University of Charleston at 7 p.m. Both matches will be held in Charleston, West Virginia.


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