FAIRMONT, W. Va. - The Slippery Rock University volleyball team earned a pair of three-set victories over Ursuline College and Elizabeth City State University Friday on day one of the Fairmont State Classic.
 
SRU (2-0) opened the day by defeating Ursuline (0-2) 25-19, 25-22, 25-16 in its first match of the 2023 season followed by a 25-23, 25-14, 27-25 win against Elizabeth City (0-2) in the nightcap.
 
Friday's results give Slippery Rock a 2-0 record on the first day of its season for the first time since 2019. It also marks the first time that The Rock has opened the year with a pair of sweeps since 2011.
 
Erica Selfridge led a balanced Slippery Rock attack that saw six athletes produce double-digit kill totals over the two contests. Selfridge closed Friday boasting 21 kills and four aces.
 
Alayna Chizmar turned in 15 kills and three aces on the day as well followed by Callie Chevalier (13), Mary Berger (12), Chelsie Wheeler (11) and Lauren VonderHaar (11). Berger, Wheeler and VonderHaar were all extremely efficient with attack percentages of at least .333.
 
Jaeden Yost guided the offense with 45 assists.
 
VonderHaar paced The Rock's defensive efforts with 11 total blocks while Kate Lachendro tallied 30 digs to move past Anna Bixler (2007-10) for 20th on The Rock's career digs ledger with 1,146.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK 3 -  URSULINE 0
Set Scores: 25-19, 25-22, 25-16
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Slippery Rock earned its eighth season-opening win in the last nine years behind a strong team effort that saw The Rock post a .239 attack percentage to go with 11 blocks and nine aces.
• The victory came courtesy of well-rounded attack in which four athletes posted at least six kills led by Selfridge, a 2022 All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division honoree who turned in a nine-kill, seven-dig, two-ace performance.
• Berger and Chizmar added seven kills apiece on an impeccable combined attack percentage of .538. Additionally, Chizmar also went for two aces, five digs and four blocks.
• In addition to racking up four kills, VonderHaar opened her sophomore campaign by being a force up front with nine total blocks (two solo / seven assisted).
• Chevalier and Wheeler chipped in six and four kills, respectively, as well as matching two-block performances with Chevalier also serving a pair of aces.
• Yost just missed out on a double-double with 21 assists and nine digs. Peytan Gullickson rounded out SRU's two-setter combination with 11 assists as well.
• Lachendro made 10 digs and Paige Weeder came off the bench to serve two aces.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Slippery Rock did not trail for the entirety of the first and second sets as SRU built up respective 10-3 and 9-3 leads early on in each game en route to victories in both sets.
 
While the Arrows were able to close the gap in each of the first two sets, including pulling even with The Rock at 11-11 in the opener, SRU continually thwarted Ursuline's comeback bids with decisive runs that resulted in back-to-back 25-19, 25-22 wins.
 
The Rock proceeded to complete their sweep in the third set by jumping out to yet another 9-3 advantage thanks in no small part to a pair of kills by Chevalier as well as a kill and block by VonderHaar.
 
To their credit, Ursuline would rally and pull to within just one point at 12-11. However, any hopes of forcing an extra set were promptly dashed when SRU took the next six points to stretch its lead back out to seven points on the way to an eventual 25-16 match-deciding triumph.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK 3 - ELIZABETH CITY STATE 0
Set Scores: 25-23, 25-14, 27-25
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Slippery Rock limited Elizabeth City State to a .095 attack percentage while hitting .227.
• Selfridge led The Rock to the victory with a 12-kill, 19-dig, two-ace double-double.
• Chizmar added eight kills and one ace as well with the trio of Wheelier, Chevalier and VonderHaar all pouring in seven kills. VonderHaar also had two blocks while five of Wheeler's kills came in the final set.
• Yost picked up her first double-double of the season on 24 assists and 10 digs with Gullickson passing out 15 assists.
• Lachendro came away with 20 digs for what was the 30th match of her collegiate career with 20 or more digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After losing the opening four points of the first set, Slippery Rock went to work on cutting into the Vikings' lead, eventually whittling the score down to 14-13 and forcing an Elizabeth City timeout.
 
SRU took the first point out of the break before The Rock and Elizabeth City State played to a 16-16 tie only for a mini-ECSU spurt to push its lead to 18-16, causing Slippery Rock to take a timeout of its own.
 
The pause in action did wonders for SRU which came out of the timeout to earn eight of the next 10 points and withstand a late Elizabeth City comeback attempt for a 25-23 victory.
 
Slippery Rock carried over its first-set momentum into the second by jumping out to a quick 16-10 lead and cruising to a 25-14 victory to send the match into a third and deciding set.
 
It appeared as if the match would be headed to a fourth set when Elizabeth City State got out to a six-point advantage at 15-9 in the third. However, with ECSU leading 17-11, Slippery Rock rattled off an 11-3 run to take a late 22-20 lead only for the Vikings to respond by recording the next four points and moving into a set-point situation.
 
Undeterred, The Rock finished strong as Wheeler registered two kills, Selfridge added another followed by two Elizabeth City State attack errors to close out a hard-fought 27-25 Rock victory.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock closes out the Fairmont State Classic with two matches Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. against Anderson followed by a 6 p.m. contest with host Fairmont State.
 
 
 
 
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