INSTITUTE, W. Va. – The Slippery Rock University volleyball team split a pair of matches Friday on day one of the PSAC-MEC crossover in Institute, West Virginia.
 
SRU began the day with a 3-1 (25-21, 27-25, 25-27, 28-26) victory over host West Virginia State University before falling in match two to Shepherd University, 3-1 (24-26, 25-22, 25-18, 25-20), in the nightcap.
 
The Rock's win against West Virginia State marked the sixth consecutive season in which SRU has won its season-opener. Slippery Rock is now 78-53 against schools from the Mountain East Conference all-time and 31-18 in non-league matches over the last four seasons.
 
Slippery Rock was led on the day by the trio of sophomore Stephanie Jacobsen, senior Shayla Ray and sophomore Erinn Kahoe.
 
Jacobsen produced a team-high 21 kills over seven sets. Ray had 20 kills on an efficient .395 attack percentage to go with six blocks. Over the two matches, Kahoe combined to compile Rock-bests of seven aces and seven blocks in addition to 15 kills and a .300 attack percentage.
 
Serving as The Rock's primary setter, junior Zoe Rivet eclipsed the 40-assist plateau in both matches, finishing with 88 total assists on the day as well as five aces. Rivet's 11.0 assists per set is currently the best among all PSAC setters.
 
Like Rivet and Kahoe, senior Beth Stumpf also had a great serving day with four aces of her own.
 
Slippery Rock will close out the PSAC-MEC crossovers with a pair of matches Saturday in Charleston, West Virginia against Urbana University at 10 a.m. and host Charleston at 7 p.m.
 
PSAC-MEC Crossover Match 1
Slippery Rock 3 - West Virginia State 1
25-21, 27-25, 25-27, 28-26
Institute, W. Va. | Walker Convocation Center
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Jacobsen led all players with a career-best 14 kills, followed by Ray with 10. Jacobsen also added 11 digs for her first career double-double.
• Ray totaled a team-high .389 attack percentage with just three errors and her aforementioned 10 kills on 18 attempts.
• Kahoe had a solid all-around outing with nine kills, four aces and four blocks.
• Rivet guided The Rock's attack with 43 assists in addition to serving three aces.
• Playing in her first match in more than a year, Stumpf served up three aces and made 12 digs in her season debut.
• Slippery Rock held WVSU to a .101 attack percentage while tallying 11 aces, its third highest team total in the last two seasons.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 – West Virginia State jumped out to an 18-13 lead, but Slippery Rock was able to battle back and close out the opening set on a 12-3 run and earn a 25-21 victory in its first set of the season.
 
Set 2 – West Virginia State once again jumped out to an early lead at 8-5, but Slippery Rock was able to mount the first of several comebacks in the set by way of a 6-0 run to pull ahead 11-8. However, WVSU would eventually pull even with The Rock at 14-14 and from there it was a back-and-forth tilt in which both teams traded points all the way to 25-25 before SRU took advantage of a pair of Yellow Jackets miscues en route to the 27-25 triumph.
 
Set 3 – The third set was once again anyone's contest as the two evenly-matched teams traded blows through the duration of the game. However, Gabrielle Bullock registered a kill for WVSU to give the Yellow Jackets a 26-25 edge followed by a Rock attack error that enabled West Virginia State to avoid the the shutout with a 27-25 win.
 
Set 4 – As was the case all match, neither team gave an inch in the fourth set as WVSU was determined to force a fifth set while Slippery Rock was focused on securing the win. With the match knotted at 25-25, Ray took over with kills in two of the next three points to edge The Rock out to a 27-26 lead. Jacobsen finished off the set, and the match, with a kill, her 14th of the contest, on the set's final point.
 
PSAC-MEC Crossover Match 2
Shepherd 3 - Slippery Rock 1
24-26, 25-22, 25-18, 25-20
Institute, W. Va. | Walker Convocation Center
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Ray was dominant for The Rock against the Rams, recording 10 kills on an impressive .400 attack percentage in addition to registering three blocks.
• Freshman Gabby Huck recorded the first double-digit kill match of her career with 10.
• Stumpf continued to return to pre-injury form with eight kills and a .318 attack percentage.
• Kahoe added six kills, did not commit any attack errors while hitting .462 as well as coming up with three blocks.
• Rivet posted a career-high 45 assists to go with a pair of aces and 12 digs in the double-double effort.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 – Trailing 23-20, SRU was on the brink of dropping the first set of the match, but The Rock responded by rattling off a 4-0 run capped off by back-to-back aces from Kahoe to jump ahead 24-23. Following a Ram kill by Peyton Lindbald, SRU used a Shepherd serving error and a Huck kill to clinch the set 26-24. Slippery Rock finished the opening set with an impressive .316 hitting percentage.
 
Set 2 – The Rock and Rams traded points for the majority of the second set, but with SRU leading 19-18 Shepherd took control of the contest with a decisive 6-0 run. Slippery Rock mounted a mini rally of its own with three consecutive points, but Shepherd put any thoughts of a comeback to rest when reigning All-MEC honoree Cambria Hill put down a kill to seal the 25-22 win and even the match at 1-1.
 
Set 3 – Slippery Rock and Shepherd evqually split the first 26 points in the third set before Shepherd proceeded to score 12 of the next 17 points on the way to a 25-18 victory.
 
Set 4 – The Rock led for the majority of the fourth set, but Shepherd was able to halt Slippery Rock's momentum by scoring six straight points to close out the set, and the match, with a 25-20 victory.
 


To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on Twitter (@Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics), Instagram (RockAthletics) and Snapchat (@RockAthletics).