CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's volleyball team lost a close Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division match on the road Tuesday in five sets to California (Pa.).
 
After dropping the opening set to Cal, 25-20, SRU rallied back for 25-23 and 25-18 wins before the Vulcans were able to capture the final two sets 25-20, 16-14.

The loss drops The Rock's record 7-12 overall and 3-4 in league matches while California improves to 9-7 overall and 3-4 in the PSAC West.
 
Callie Chevalier provided Slippery Rock with the best performance of her young career as the freshman appeared in four sets to total 13 kills on a .237 attack percentage, five blocks and seven digs.
 
Erica Selfridge and Abigail Koeller each posted double-doubles with Selfridge finishing the night at 11 kills, 24 digs and two aces while Koeller produced 11 kills, 21 digs and a career-high matching three blocks.
 
Chelsie Wheeler added nine kills and Jaeden Yost served a pair of aces in addition to distributing 32 assists and making 10 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Fellow setter Peytan Gullickson just missed out on a double-double of her own following a 16-assist, eight-dig performance.
 
Reigning PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week Abigail Nigon continued her outstanding senior season with seven more blocks paired with four kills. Mary Berger chipped in three blocks as well while Kate Lachendro, one of the nation's leaders in digs, finished just short of matching her career-best with 36 digs over the five sets.
 
For the match, Slippery Rock held advantages over California in kills (57-56), attack percentage (.149-.137), total blocks (10-5) and digs (110-108) while the Vulcans held a 9-5 edge over SRU in aces.
 
The Rock and Vulcans traded points for the majority of the opener, but with the score tied at 15-15 California was able to earn four of the following five points to take a 19-16 lead and force a SRU timeout. However, The Rock were unable to impede the Vulcan momentum as California came out of the break to finish off the opening set with a 25-20 victory.
 
Slippery Rock darted out to a 6-1 run to start the second set only for California to answer back with a 7-2 run of its own to even the contest at 8-8. From there Slippery Rock and the Vulcans once again went back and forth to 15-15. With the set tied, The Rock rattled off five straight points courtesy of two kills apiece from Koeller and Chevalier as well as one by Berger.

SRU's five-point cushion was more than enough to withstand a late Vulcan rally as The Rock closed out a 25-23 set win to even the match.
 
Slippery Rock once again started out strong to begin the third set as SRU took 12 of the first 15 points for a commanding nine-point lead it would never relinquish on the way to a 25-18 victory that gave The Rock 2-1 set lead.
 
After the Vulcans forced a fifth and deciding set following a 25-20 win in the fourth, Slippery Rock took advantage of two Cal errors combined with another Chevalier kill and a Selfridge ace at the start of the final set to give SRU a 4-0 lead.
 
However, Slippery Rock was unable to close out the win as California proceeded to go on an 8-4 run for an 8-6 advantage heading into the side switch. SRU battled back to tie the contest two final times at 13-13 and 14-14 before the Vulcans ultimately closed out the win by way of a Rock service error and a Rachel Simon ace for the match-clinching 16-14 victory.
 
Elisa Rugiero led the Vulcans with 12 kills while Emily Buwawa served three aces and Alayja Floyd registered four blocks.
 
Slippery Rock returns to competition with a PSAC West road match 12 p.m. Saturday at Seton Hill University.
 
 
 
 
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