Slippery Rock University Athletics

PAINESVILLE, Ohio - The Slippery Rock University volleyball team closed out its opening weekend of the 2026 season Saturday with a three-set loss to Seton Hill University at the Storm Volleyball Classic in Painesville, Ohio.
 
The Rock dropped their first match of the season following 25-17, 25-13, 25-16 losses to Seton Hill in what was a non-conference contest between the two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division counterparts.
 
Despite the setback versus the Griffins, SRU still returns home from Painesville, Ohio with a 2-1 record. Slippery Rock has now exited its opening weekend with a .500 or better winning percentage 11 times in the last 13 years. Seton Hill improved to 3-0 with the win.
 
Slow starts plagued Slippery Rock throughout the duration of Saturday's match with SHU taking advantage of the early slumps to grab leads SRU was ultimately unable to rally all the way back from.
 
Marley Annis (8) and Ava Haynes (6) combined to produce 14 of The Rock's 26 kills Saturday, with Ali Haynes (4) and Hayden Deming (3) chipping in multiple kills each as well. Ava Haynes also produced a team-best two blocks.
 
Setter Paityn Krause compiled 14 assists and made four digs. Ellie Friedrichs posted her 10th ace in her brief collegiate career while Annis served SRU's other ace against the Griffins.
 
Defensively, libero Kara Pasquale made a team-high 11 digs.
 
Seton Hill took the first four points of the match and went on to grow its lead out to six at 11-5 and while The Rock cut their deficit to two points on two separate occasions, they could never overtake the Griffins in the opener. SHU pulled away down the stretch in an eventual 25-17 opening-set victory.
 
The Griffins jumped out to a 15-5 advantage in the second set as Seton Hill traded points with Slippery Rock through the remainder of the set for a 25-13 win.
 
Similarly to the opening two sets, Seton Hill captured six of the first seven points in the third before Slippery Rock mounted a commendable rally in which it not only erased the deficit but took an 11-10 lead. However, the Griffins countered with an 8-2 run to re-take the lead at 18-13. SRU was unable to find another rally, giving way to a 25-16 match-deciding Griffin win.
 
For the match, Seton Hill held advantages over The Rock in kills (49-26), aces (5-2), blocks (8-3), digs (51-30) and attack percentage (.353-.065). Catie Flohr paced the Griffins with 25 kills and four blocks.
 
The Rock returns to competition Sept. 4-5 when its heads to Michigan for four matches at the Hampton Inn and Suites Grand Rapids Downtown Classic.




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