Box Score
Video Interview
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University volleyball team made comebacks in the first and second sets and hung close with Gannon in the third set, but ultimately lost 3-0 (21-25, 24-26, 16-25) to the Lady Knights Friday night at Morrow Field House.
Junior outside hitter Kaylee Smith led The Rock (7-14, 5-8 PSAC) with 12 kills. Sophomore opposite Sarah Cadwallader, six kills and senior middle blocker Keira Peoples, five kills, also helped lead the Slippery Rock offensive attack.
Cadwallader recorded three assisted blocks, which tied junior middle hitter Lisa Bakaitis, who had one solo and two assisted blocks, for the team-high.
Senior setter/defensive specialist Anna Bixler and senior setter Kim Wilson guided SRU's offense with 17 and 13 assists respectively while junior outside hitter Alee Kromer and freshman outside hitter Caroline Houston paced Slippery Rock with 16 and 13 digs each.
Gannon (15-5, 9-3 PSAC) jumped out to a 6-1 lead on The Rock in the first set, but three blocks by Rock players a long with a kill and a service ace from Houston helped SRU close the gap to just 8-7. Slippery Rock spent the rest of the match pressuring Gannon and nearly taking the lead on several occasions before finally breaking through to take a 17-16 lead. However, Gannon outscored The Rock 9-4 to end the set with a 25-21 win.
Slippery Rock again found itself trailing early in the second set, this time by a margin of 6-2. Gannon kept its lead throughout the set, taking a seemingly comfortable 18-13 lead. But SRU once again climbed back into the frame and grabbed a 24-23 lead thanks to an 11-5 Rock run. Slippery Rock was unable to complete the comeback as Gannon scored the final three points of the match for the 26-24 win.
SRU played Gannon tough in the third set and trailed just 14-13 halfway through the set before the Lady Knights went on a 5-1 spurt to extend its lead to 19-14 and force a Rock timeout. The timeout did little to stop Gannon's momentum as the visitors came out of the break and scored 6 of the sets final eight points for the 25-16 win.
The Green and White are now 10-18 all-time against Gannon and 3-3 in its past six matches against the Lady Knights.
The Rock wore pink jerseys Friday as part of the team's fifth annual “Dig for the Cure” match. Prior to the match, SRU paid tribute to cancer survivors as well as the late Ann Lueken, the wife of SRU Director of Athletics Paul Lueken, who lost a 13-year battle with breast cancer in August 2010.
Slippery Rock will travel to Alderson-Broaddus College tomorrow for a pair of non-conference matches against teams from the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Rock will begin Saturday against Alderson-Broaddus (12-12, 6-2 WVIAC) at 2 p.m. before concluding its day against Fairmont State (14-7, 7-2 WVIAC).
