SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University volleyball team lost a non-conference match to Tiffin University in four sets Tuesday at Morrow Field House.
 
SRU (4-13) took the opening set from the Dragons (7-11), 25-21, but Tiffin rallied back from the first-set loss with consecutive 25-17, 25-18, 25-21 victories to seal the road win.
 
Slippery Rock middle hitters Mary Berger and Lauren Crytzer combined for 13 kills and five blocks as Berger tallied eight kills on a .208 attack to go with three blocks while Crytzer registered five kills and a pair of blocks.
 
Abigail Koeller posted team-highs of 10 kills and two aces along with a pair of blocks. Fellow outside hitters Erica Selfridge and Alayna Chizmar chipped in nine and seven kills, respectively, with Selfirdge also making 12 digs and serving one ace.
 
Taylor Fellers made her first career start, turning in a double-double of 20 assists and 12 digs. Peytan Gullickson came off the bench to setup The Rock's offense with 17 assists of her own in addition to serving one ace and collecting eight digs.
 
Libero Kate Lachendro rounded out The Rock's top performers Tuesday with 31 digs.
 
SRU came out strong by posting an impressive .256 attack percentage in the opening set as the trio of Selfridge, Koeller and Berger registered three kills each in the opener.
 
Slippery Rock jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead and while Tiffin would pull to within one point later in the set at 8-7, it was never able to overcome The Rock's advantage as SRU went on to extend its edge by as many as nine points on the way to a 25-21 victory.
 
However, SRU was unable to carry over its momentum from the first set to the rest of the match as Tiffin controlled the second set by playing out to a 21-12 advantage en route to the eventual 25-17 win to even the match at one set apiece.
 
SRU held a tight 15-13 lead through the opening half of the third set before the Dragons answered with a 12-3 run to pull out a 25-18 win. While the fourth set was another close bout, SRU ultimately never led in the deciding game as Tiffin scored six of the match's final 10 points to close out the evening via a 25-21 victory.
 
For the match, Tiffin held advantages over The Rock in kills (56-43), attack percentage (.193-.105) and aces (6-5) while SRU finished with a 5-3 edge in total blocks. Wakaya Wilson tallied a double-double of 14 kills and 19 digs to lead Tiffin.
 
Slippery Rock returns to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action 7 p.m. Friday at Indiana University (Pa.).
 
 

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