Slippery Rock University Athletics

ALLENDALE, Mich. - The Slippery Rock University volleyball team split a pair of matches Friday to begin its time at the Hampton Inn and Suites Grand Rapids Downtown Classic.
 
Friday's matches, which were held on the campus of Grand Valley State University, saw The Rock first lose to Cedarville University in three sets (25-13, 25-15, 25-16) before earning a 25-13, 25-21, 25-14 sweep of its own over Post University.
 
Still in in the infant stages of the 2026 season, Slippery Rock exits the day in possession of a 3-2 overall record. Cedarville improved to 2-2 with its win over SRU, while Post saw its record drop to 1-5.
 
Following its morning loss to Cedarville, a rejuvenated Slippery Rock team produced a dominant 25-13 opening-set victory over Post during the afternoon session.
 
Marley Annis and Ava Haynes registered two kills apiece and Emry Rumbaugh provided SRU with a pair of blocks to help Slippery Rock jump out to a 12-4 lead. An efficient Rock attack steadily built its lead out to 17-7 and would spend the rest of the set maintaining a double-digit lead that grew to as many as 13 points (23-10) on the way to a 25-13 triumph.
 
The Rock and Eagles played a much tighter second set, evenly trading the first 14 points of the set before an 8-4 SRU run gave Slippery Rock a 15-11 entering the middle stages of the contest. While The Rock's lead never grew to the sizable tally they possessed in the opening set, SRU also never yielded the advantage as they traded points with Post down the stretch to close out a 25-21 victory, edging one game closer to the sweep.
 
Slippery Rock returned to its first-set form in third by darting out to a commanding 14-4 lead it would never come close to relinquishing en route to a 25-14 sweep clinching victory.
 
For the match, Slippery Rock held advantages over Post in kills (45-25), attack percentage (.286-.061), aces (4-1), blocks (7-1) and digs (63-57). Slippery Rock's .286 attack percentage was the highest in a single-match for the program since a 3-0 Sept. 9, 2023 win over Malone (.396).
 
Annis and Haynes combined to compile 28 kills in the win as Annis went for a 16-kill, 17-dig, three-block double-double, with Haynes recording 12 kills of her own. The duo reached their big offensive nights on impeccable accuracy in the form of a combined .452 attack percentage.

In addition to matching her career-high in digs, Annis has now logged three double-digit kill matches in 2026. 
 
Adding to The Rock's attack was Chloe Shirk, who notched the first kills of her collegiate career with six against the Eagles along with two blocks. Hayden Deming and Gwen McCarthy chipped in three kills apiece as well.
 
Setters Paityn Krause and Abby Kolcum guided SRU's attack with 20 and 14 assists, respectively.
 
Leah Schreckengost served two of SRU's four aces as part of her third multi-ace performance of the season. Krause and Haynes had one ace each as well.
 
Defensively, Victoria Nalbach joined Annis with three block assists, while libero Kara Pasquale matched her teammate for team-high honors in digs with 17.
 
Slippery Rock concludes its time at the Hampton Inn and Suites Grand Rapids Downtown Classic with two final matches Saturday at Davenport University (noon) and against Saginaw Valley State University (2 p.m.).
 
 





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