LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University volleyball team opened the 2021 season with a pair of losses at the Lock Haven Invitational Friday to Notre Dame College and Malone University.
SRU began the day with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-17, 25-12) loss to Notre Dame followed by a 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-21) setback against Malone.
14 Rock athletes took the floor over the two matches.
Chelsie Wheeler and
Kate Lachendro had 11 kills each on the day with Wheeler also coming up with a team-high seven blocks.
Logan Whitaker did a little bit of everything for The Rock Friday. She navigated the offense with a team-best 27 assists in addition to recording nine kills, 22 digs and two blocks.
Lauren Weber opened her senior season by making a Rock-best 36 digs.
MATCH 1: NDC 3 – SRU 0 (28-26, 25-17, 25-12)
Whitaker paced The Rock's efforts against Notre Dame with a solid start to her 2021 season. Over three sets, Whitaker produced a double-double of 14 assists and 12 digs to go with a team-high seven kills and two blocks.
In what was their first official collegiate matches, Wheeler and Lachendro each recorded five kills with Wheeler coming away with one block and Lachendro serving two aces and making 12 digs.
Tiara Teague and
Erica Selfridge, who also had 13 digs, rounded out The Rock's offensive attack with four kills apiece while Weber spearheaded The Rock's defensive efforts with a career-high 25 digs.
Slippery Rock battled back from a four-point deficit late in the opening set to pull ahead of NDC 25-24 before the Falcons put SRU's comeback hopes to rest via a 4-1 run on the way to a 28-26 victory.
SRU once again found itself down four points in the second set at 20-16, but unlike the opening set there would be no rally as Notre Dame came away with five of the final six points of the set en route to a 25-17 win.
Notre Dame jumped out to a 14-5 lead in the third set and never looked back as it closed out the set, and in turn the match, with a 25-12 victory.
MATCH 2: MU 3 – SRU 0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-21)
Malone took advantage of a pair of big runs in the first two sets and was able to outlast The Rock in a narrow third game to pull out the 3-0 victory over SRU in the nightcap.
Wheeler starred for The Rock against Malone with six kills and an impressive six solo blocks. Wheeler's six blocks ties her for the seventh most rejections in a single-match by a Rock freshman in program history.
Lachendro tallied six kills of her own all the while making 17 digs. Seven other Rock athletes had at least one kill in the match including
Stephanie O'Donnell, who notched her first three kills of 2021. Whitaker once again guided the offense with 13 assists to go with 10 digs for her second double-double of the day.
Slippery Rock held an early 6-4 lead in the opening set, but Malone proceeded to rattle off an 18-5 run on the way to the 25-15 win in the first set. SRU trailed just 6-5 in the second set, however Malone once again enjoyed a large run, this one being a 14-6 spurt, to put the second set away with an eventual 11-point victory.
Malone appeared poised to run away with the third set after getting out to a seemingly commanding 11-5 lead, but The Rock battled back with a 7-0 run of their own to take a 12-11 advantage midway through the set.
From there on, SRU and Malone went back-and-forth for the rest of the match until the Pioneers were able to escape the set, and the match, by taking six of the contest's final eight points to seal the win.
Slippery Rock will wrap up its time at the LHU Invitational Saturday with a 1 p.m. match against Roberts Wesleyan followed later by a showdown with host Lock Haven at 7 p.m.
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