CANTON, Ohio - The Slippery Rock University volleyball team earned wins against Malone University and Bluefield State University as part of a perfect day Friday at the Hall of Fame City Challenge in Canton, Ohio.
 
The Rock opened the event by besting host Malone in three sets (25-23, 26-24, 25-14) followed by a four-set (25-14, 25-16, 13-25, 25-13) win over Bluefield State in the nightcap.
 
With the wins, Slippery Rock's record improves to 3-3 in 2025. Malone drops to 0-6 while Bluefield State's record moves to 1-6.
 
SRU held Malone and Bluefield State to a combined hitting percentage of just .062. The Rock's offensive exploits were highlighted by Callie Chevalier, who turned in a pair of double-double performances to finish the two matches with 29 kills on a .210 attack percentage alongside 28 digs and four blocks.
 
Marley Annis continued what is quickly becoming a breakout season with 23 kills, five aces and three blocks over the two matches. In addition to tallying a team-high five blocks on the day, Lauren VonderHaar also registered 11 kills.
 
Paityn Krause enjoyed the best two-match performance of her Slippery Rock career, compiling 58 assists and 19 digs in two appearances.
 
Chevalier reached the 700-kill milestone Friday. She finished day one of the Hall of Fame City Challenge with her career kill total standing at 724, moving her past Katie Greco (2003-06) and Kaley Fucci (2016-19) into 18th place on SRU's career kills ledger.
 
VonderHaar and Jaeden Yost also continued their ascents up The Rock's record book. Yost served one ace, giving her 119 for her career to tie Kaylee Smith (2008-11) for 16th place all-time while VonderHaar career block total is now up to 276 – the eighth highest total ever at SRU.
 
SRU 3 – MU 0
Set Scores: 25-23, 26-24, 25-14
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Slippery Rock held Malone to a .088 attack percentage – the lowest by a SRU opponent this year.
 
• Chevalier and Annis shouldered the bulk of the offensive responsibilities by combining for 26 of SRU's 45 kills. Chevalier also tallied 13 digs for her fourth double-double of the year while Annis served a pair of aces.
 
• Krause distributed a career-high 26 assists in addition to making 10 digs for a double-double of her own.
 
• VonderHaar and Emry Rumbaugh shared match-high block honors with three rejections apiece. VonderHaar also produced eight kills on a stellar .467 attack percentage.
 
• Kara Pasquale garnered a match-best dig total of 18.
 
• Slippery Rock closed out its second sweep of the year holding advantages over Malone in attack percentage (.183-.088), kills (45-35), aces (3-2), total blocks (7-3) and digs (66-56).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rock and Pioneers began the match with sizable runs as Malone jumped out to an early 8-1 lead only for The Rock to take 10 of the next 13 points to put the opening set into an 11-11 tie. From there, SRU and MU traded points leading to an eventual 21-21 stalemate before a final push gave The Rock a 25-23 win. Annis accounted for three kills in the set's final moments.
 
Malone had Slippery Rock down 24-22 late in the second set, but couldn't finish out the victory. SRU clawed back into contention with consecutive points thanks to a Rumbaugh kill and a Pioneer attack error. The Rock did not relinquish the momentum after staving off back-to-back set points as another Malone attack error followed by a set-clinching kill by VonderHaar gave SRU the 26-24 win.
 
While the opening two sets were drama filled to the end, Slippery Rock left little doubt who the better team was in the third by cruising to a 25-14 match-deciding win. Chevalier gave SRU six kills and three blocks in the final set.
 
SRU 3 – BSU 1
Set Scores: 25-14, 25-16, 13-25, 25-13
 
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Highlighted by ending the match-deciding fourth set with 11 consecutive points, Slippery Rock controlled the majority of the contest against Bluefield State before finishing with team advantages over BSU in attack percentage (.143-.033), kills (44-28), aces (10-7) and digs (64-56).
 
• Chevalier earned her third consecutive double-double, this one being of the 15-kill, 14-dig variety that included two blocks and a .244 attack percentage.
 
• Annis grabbed a double-double as well with 10 kills, 10 digs, a career-high matching three aces and two blocks.
 
• Victoria Nalbach (6) and Emry Rumbaugh (5) combined for 11 kills to round out The Rock's offensive leaders which was guided throughout the match by Krause, who distributed a career-high 31 assists.
 
• Leah Schreckengost made her collegiate debut in the win and matched Annis for team-high honors in aces with three.
 
• SRU set a season-high with 10 total aces.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Slippery Rock led by as many as nine points in each of the opening two sets en route to cruising to commanding 25-14 and 25-16 victories. SRU held a .246 attack percentage in the opening two sets with 10 of the team's 26 kills early on coming from Chevalier.
 
However, any thoughts of a quick sweep were put to rest by Bluefield State in the third set when the Big Blue captured a sizable 25-13 victory of their own to stay alive in the match.
 
The fourth set saw SRU and BSU trade points early on with The Rock edging their way to a 13-12 lead. Thanks in no small part to three kills by Rumbaugh, SRU then went on a 5-2 run to stretch its lead out to 18-13 and force a Bluefield State timeout.
 
The break in action did little to quell The Rock's momentum. Slippery Rock rattled off seven consecutive points coming out of the timeout to secure the 25-13 match-clinching win.
 
Chevalier had five kills and two blocks in the final set of the day.
 
Slippery Rock returns for day two of the Hall of Fame City Challenge Saturday with matches against the University of Illinois Springfield (11:15 a.m.) and Bloomsburg University (6 p.m.).





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