CANTON, Ohio - The Slippery Rock University volleyball team split a pair of four-set matches Friday on day one of the Hall of Fame City Challenge in Canton, Ohio.
 
SRU opened the day with a 14-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 loss to host Walsh University before rallying to defeat Roberts Wesleyan University 21-25, 25-17, 25-15, 26-24. The split moves The Rock's record in 2023 to 4-2 overall.
 
The Roberts Wesleyan victory was the 666th in the career of head coach Laurie Lokash, who is now in sole possession of 20th place on Division II's career wins list.
 
Callie Chevalier led The Rock Friday by producing a pair of double-doubles and combining to tally 26 kills, on .217 attack percentage along with 21 digs and two blocks. Alayna Chizmar added 21 kills and three aces as well over the two contests.
 
Pacing SRU's defensive efforts was Lauren VonderHaar with 10 blocks (six solo / four assisted) and Kate Lachendro, who compiled 47 digs.
 
WALSH 3 - SLIPPERY ROCK 1
Set Scores: 14-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-23
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Slippery Rock held advantages over Walsh in attack percentage (.146-.123) and blocks (7-6) while the Cavaliers bettered SRU in kills (46-43) and aces (5-3).
• Chevalier led The Rock with a 10-kill, 11-dig, one-block double-double.
• Chizmar and Chelsie Wheeler supplemented the attack at eight and nine kills, respectively, with Wheeler also posting two blocks and a .389 attack percentage.
• Erica Selfridge and Mary Berger added six kills apiece as well while Jaeden Yost guided the offense with 16 assists.
• Yost, Chizmar and Selfridge accounted for SRU's three aces.
• Defensively, VonderHaar compiled six blocks (three solo / three assisted) and Lachendro made a team-high 21 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Slippery Rock jumped out to a 14-5 lead in the opening set thanks in part to four early kills by Chevalier and never looked back on the way to a 25-14 victory over Walsh to start the match. The Cavaliers were able to trim The Rock's lead to as little as four points at 17-13 only for SRU to put the game away with a set-deciding 8-1 run.
 
Slippery Rock led the second set, 15-14, but Walsh countered by registering the next five points to take a lead it would never relinquish for a match-evening 25-21 win. The third set saw SRU and WU play to a 20-20 tie before Walsh was able to take advantage of a 5-1 run to close out another 25-21 victory heading into the fourth set.
 
The fourth set was a back-and-forth contest for the duration of the match as the two evenly matched teams each went on mini runs through the opening stages of the set before trading points for the near remainder of the match with SRU taking a narrow 23-22 lead after a Selfridge kill.
 
However, Slippery Rock was ultimately unable to force a fifth-and-deciding set as the Cavaliers posted a pair of kills and an ace following Selfridge's kill to earn a 25-23 match-clinching win.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK 3 – ROBERTS WESLEYAN 1
Set Scores: 21-25, 25-17, 25-15, 26-24
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Chevalier (16 kills, 10 digs, one ace) and Selfridge (12 kills, 14 digs, three aces) each earned double-doubles and combined for a .286 attack percentage.
• Chizmar was the third Rock athlete with a double-digit kill total at 13 in addition to serving two aces of her own.
• VonderHaar and Berger both came away with four-block matches while Lachendro tallied a season-best 26 digs.
• Like Lachendro, Yost also reached a season-high with 28 assists.
• As a team, SRU closed the match with decisive advantages in attack percentage (.205-.112), kills (57-38), aces (9-3) and blocks (10-7).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After losing the opening set, 25-21, Slippery Rock went to work on its comeback with a pair of dominant finishes in both the second and third sets.
 
Roberts Wesleyan held a narrow 16-15 lead in the second set before Slippery Rock rattled off a 10-1 run to even the match at 1-1. Chevalier accounted for four kills during the spurt.
 
SRU proceeded to turn a 12-12 tie in the third set into a 25-15 victory thanks to a balanced attack down the stretch that saw six different athletes record kills capped off by a set-winner from Jalynn West, who made her collegiate debut in the match.
 
Slippery Rock jumped out to an early 8-2 advantage in the fourth set only for RedHawks to slowly chip away at their deficit and eventually force a 24-24 tie. However, SRU avoided the fifth set as Berger came up with a solo block on the ensuing point followed by a Selfridge kill to ensure the 26-24 match-clinching win.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock continues its time at the Hall of Fame City Challenge Saturday with matches at 11:15 a.m. against Frostburg State University and 1:30 p.m. versus host Malone University.
 
 



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