Slippery Rock University Athletics

CLARION, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University volleyball team lost on the road to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division foe Clarion in four sets (25-17, 25-11, 17-25, 25-18) Friday night.
 
Friday's loss positions The Rock's record at 6-14 overall and 0-8 inside the PSAC West. The host Golden Eagles improve to 15-5 overall and 7-1 in league matches with the win.
 
After posting a strong showing in SRU's win over D'Youville earlier in the week, Victoria Nalbach gave The Rock another stellar effort Friday with eight kills, a .500 attack percentage, a career-high two aces and four total blocks (one solo / three assisted).
 
In two matches this week, Nalbach compiled 15 kills on a .500 hitting percentage with eight total blocks (three solo / five assisted).
 
Ali Haynes paced SRU in kills with nine. Ellie Friedrichs (5), Ava Haynes (4) and Emry Rumbaugh (3) rounded out The Rock's kill leaders. Friedrichs also made 14 digs, three behind Kara Pasquale's team-leading 17.
 
Joining Nalbach up front with multiple rejections on the night with two apiece were Rumbaugh and Alayna Esselink.
 
Emily Loeffler and Paityn Krause distributed 16 and 12 assists, respectively, in addition to both of The Rock's setters chipping in one kill.
 
Slippery Rock overcame a slow start in the first two sets, to win the third set and play a close fourth with a Clarion team that currently sits atop the Western Division standings.
 
The Rock and Golden Eagles played an even opening portion of the first set, with SRU edging its way to a 9-7 lead only for Clarion to grab seven of the next nine points to pull ahead, 14-11, and force a Rock timeout.
 
The break in action could not change the direction of the set as the Golden Eagles continued their run to 18-11 before closing out the 25-17 win. Nalbach compiled three kills and one block in the first set.
 
Clarion took advantage of three aces and four Rock attack errors to help take an early 8-3 lead that The Rock never recovered from in the 25-11 second-set loss.
 
The third set, a 25-17 SRU triumph, was without a doubt The Rock's best performance of the night.
 
The Golden Eagles jumped out to another 8-3 lead to begin the set, only for SRU to battle its way to a 9-9 tie. From there the two teams traded points heading into a 16-16 tie with the remainder of the set belonging to The Rock in the form of an impressive 9-1 spurt that gave SRU its first set win.
 
After hitting in the negatives in each of the first two sets, Slippery Rock posted a .235 attack percentage in the third set. Defensively, SRU posted four blocks as The Rock limited Clarion to a .021 attack percentage. Ali Haynes had four kills on nine attempts with no errors in the third set.
 
Slippery Rock continued to pressure Clarion well into the fourth set as the two evenly matched teams traded points and mini runs, but a 6-2 Golden Eagles spurt gave the hosts a 15-11 and forced SRU into a timeout. Clarion then claimed the next two points out of the stoppage, opening a six-point edge which was turned into a 25-18 match-deciding set win.
 
Clarion finished the match holding advantages over SRU in attack percentage (.214 / .053), kills (52-34), aces (7-4), total blocks (13-6) and digs (61-56). Taylor Haupt had 14 kills and Emily Klopp tallied seven blocks to lead Clarion.
 
Slippery Rock returns to action in seven days when it hosts Pitt-Johnstown 6 p.m. Oct. 23 on Alumni Night at Morrow Field House.





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