WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. – The Slippery Rock University volleyball team split a pair of matches on day one of the Atlantic Region Crossover Friday on the campus of West Liberty University.
 
The Rock opened the event with a three-set (25-15, 25-9, 25-23) loss to host West Liberty University, but salvaged the day courtesy of an impressive five-set (17-25, 25-18, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12) win against Notre Dame College (Ohio).
 
Slippery Rock exits Friday with a 7-3 record through the early stages of the 2023 season while West Liberty moves to 9-2 and Notre Dame drops to 1-5.
 
The Rock was led over the two matches by Erica Selfridge, who tallied team-highs of 20 kills and 27 digs. Callie Chevalier produced 18 kills, four blocks and two aces on the day as well.
 
SRU's middle hitter combination of Mary Berger and Lauren VonderHaar posted nearly identical stat lines with both athletes coming away with 11 kills and 10 blocks.
 
WEST LIBERTY 3 - SLIPPERY ROCK  0
Set Scores: 25-15, 25-9, 25-23
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Slippery Rock was unable to find its collective footing for much of the match, as it finished the three-set contest with a season-low .050 attack percentage. Meanwhile, West Liberty posted a .239 attack percentage – the second highest allowed by SRU this year.
• Chevalier led the way for The Rock with a seven-kill, five-dig, two-block, one-ace showing.
• Selfridge added four kills with VonderHaar (3), Berger (2) and Chelsie Wheeler (2) being the only other Rock athletes with multiple kills. Berger also had two blocks.
• Jordan West came off the bench to register a team-high eight digs.
• Syd Montana made her season debut and finished the contest with five digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After losing the opening two sets 25-15 and 25-9, The Rock pushed the host Hilltoppers to the brink in the third set.
 
Trailing 12-5 and coming out of a timeout, Slippery Rock attempted to avoid the sweep by going on a 9-1 run to capture a 14-13 lead. Chevalier had two kills and one block during the spurt.
 
The Rock and West Liberty went on trade points for the remainder of the match, but with the score tied at 23-23 WLU was able to tally the match-deciding points via a Rock service error and a Leah Driscoll kill to close out the victory.
 
Driscoll and Katelynn Fritz combined for 22 kills in the win for West Liberty.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK  3 - NOTRE DAME 2
Set Scores: 17-25, 25-18, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Slippery Rock rebounded from its loss to West Liberty with a solid all-around team showing in its five-set nightcap win over Notre Dame.
• The win marked the second time SRU overcame an opening-set loss to win a match this year.
• SRU held advantages over Notre Dame in attack percentage (.201-.133), aces (6-5) and blocks (8-7).
• Selfridge and Chevalieer guided The Rock with a pair of double-doubles. Selfridge closed the match with 16 kills and 20 digs while Chevalier went for 11 kills and 12 digs.
• In what was the first extensive amount of playing time in her collegiate career, Jalynn West also produced a double-double of 19 assists and 16 digs to go along with a team-best two aces.
• Berger (9), Wheeler (8) and VonderHaar (8) supplemented The Rock's kill total as well.
• Defensively, VonderHaar compiled four blocks while Berger added three rejections.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Following a 25-17 opening set loss that could have went either way, the second set was another back-and-forth game in its early stages. This time it was The Rock that took the advantage by posting a 4-1 run to grow its lead to 10-6 and cause NDC to take a timeout.
 
The stop in play did little to hault Slippery Rock's momentum as The Rock continued the run with four straight points before the Falcons were able to end the run. Notre Dame trimmed Slippery Rock's lead to as little as four points at 18-14, but never truly threatened The Rock's edge as SRU finished off the set 25-18 to even the match at one set apiece.
 
Trailing 7-6 in the third set, Slippery Rock pushed through the slim disadvantage by going on an 11-3 run to pull ahead 17-10 and survive a late scare for a key 25-23 win.
 
Slippery Rock was unable to put the match away in the fourth set as Notre Dame eked out a 25-22 victory to send SRU into its first five-set contest of 2023.
 
The opening half of the final set was reminiscent of the entire match with neither team holding much of an advantage over its counterpart. Notre Dame eventually clawed its way out to a narrow 8-6 advantage heading into the side switch.
 
NDC stretched its lead out to three points only for Slippery Rock to battle its way back with a 3-0 run to pull the match even at 10-10 and force a Notre Dame timeout. SRU's run continued out of the timeout via a Falcon attack error and a Selfridge kill that once again caused Notre Dame coach Erica Kostelac to use another timeout with Slippery Rock now leading 12-10.
 
However, there would be no stopping The Rock's momentum as SRU took advantage of two attack errors to go with Selfridge's 16th kill of the night en route to the match-clinching 15-12 victory.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock closes out the Atlantic Region Crossover with two more matches Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. against host Wheeling University followed by a 4 p.m. contest against Fairmont State University.
 
 
 


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