WHEELING, W. Va. - The Slippery Rock University volleyball team concluded its time at the Mountain East Conference-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Crossover Saturday by splitting a pair of matches.
 
Following a three-set (25-20, 25-18, 25-19) loss to host Wheeling University to open the day, Slippery Rock rebounded by taking down Fairmont State University in four sets (26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20).
 
Saturday's split moves SRU's record to 7-5 through the opening half of its 2024 schedule. Wheeling improved to 6-6 with the win while Fairmont State fell to 8-5 following the loss to Slippery Rock, its second setback to SRU this year.
 
Slippery Rock had five athletes reach 10 kills across the two matches Saturday including Erica Selfridge (22), Callie Chevalier (16), Aslyn Pry (16), Chelsie Wheeler (10) and Kaitlyn Danszczak (10). Jaeden Yost was responsible for 50 assists in addition to five aces.  
 
Defensively, Lauren VonderHaar increased her team-leading season block total to 53 (14 solo / 39 assisted) following a 10-block day while libero Kate Lachendro-Biery went for 41 digs.

CARDINALS 3 – ROCK 0
Set Scores: 25-20, 25-18, 25-19
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• The duo of Wheeler and VonderHaar tallied three blocks each with Wheeler also going for seven kills, two off Selfridge's team-high nine.
 
• Danszczak chipped in seven kills on the attack followed by Marley Annis, who provided SRU with five kills and one block. Yost accounted for 20 of SRU's 35 assists.
 
• Lachendro-Biery was a force both offensively and defensively following a three-ace, 15-dig output.
 
• Wheeling held team advantages over SRU in kills (50-36), attack percentage (.328-.109) and blocks (9-5) while Slippery Rock bettered the Cardinals in aces (5-1).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rock and Cardinals played an excellent back-and-forth first set that saw both teams trade runs leading to a 17-17 tie before Wheeling eked out a win in the opening set by taking eight of the final 11 points in the 25-20 win.
 
Slippery Rock jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second set thanks in part to two early kills from Annis. SRU maintained its advantage through the remainder of the early stages in the second, but Wheeling eventually erased its deficit, took a 13-12 edge and forced a Rock timeout.
 
SRU was unable to re-capture its momentum from the start of the set as the Cardinals pulled away down the stretch in a 25-18 victory. WU then closed out the sweep by fending off a late Rock rally in the third set to earn a match-deciding 25-19 win.

ROCK 3 – FALCONS 1
Set Scores: 26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Slippery Rock served 14 aces – the most for the program since a 17-ace showing in its 2011 victory over Cheyney.
 
• The duo of Yost (5) and Kara Pasquale combined for nine aces with Selfridge (2), Lachendro-Biery (1), Brooke Farrah (1) and Gwen McCarthy (1) all adding to the impressive total as well.
 
• One of three Rock athletes to finish with a double-digit kill total, Chevalier rattled off a match-best 16 kills alongside nine digs and five blocks (one solo / four assisted).
 
• Joining Chevalier on the attack was Selfridge with a 13-kill, 19-dig double-double and Pry's career-high 12 kills.
 
• In addition to her big serving performance, Yost also finished with a 30-assist, 11-dig double-double.
 
• As they have done so many times over their careers, Lachendro-Biery and VonderHaar were the top defenders for The Rock with 29 digs and seven blocks (one solo / six assisted), respectively.
 
• SRU finished its time at the MEC-PSAC Crossover holding team advantages over the Falcons in kills (56-52) and aces (14-3). Both teams had 11 total blocks and FSU edged SRU in attack percentage (.139-.120).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
As one would expect from two evenly matched teams, the opening three sets of Slippery Rock's final match of the weekend could not have possibly been closer.
 
The Rock and Falcons traded respective 26-24, 25-23 wins through the first two sets only for SRU to fight its way to a 25-23 victory in the third, sending the match into a potential game-deciding fourth set.
 
The start fourth set largely mirrored the rest of the night with the two teams playing out to a 14-13 score in favor of Slippery Rock.
 
However, the rest of the match by and large belonged to SRU starting with a crucial 7-1 run which featured a kill and two block assists by Chevalier, giving The Rock a 21-14 lead.
 
While FSU made one final spurt to cut its deficit down to 22-19, Slippery Rock came out of a well-placed timeout to take three of the final four points of the night via kills by Annis, VonderHaar and Selfridge en route to a 25-20 match-deciding win.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock opens the PSAC portion of its schedule 6 p.m. Sept. 27 on the road at Pitt-Johnstown.




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