The Ashland University volleyball team recovered from a tough second set and rolled in the final two as the Eagles came away from Malone with a 3-1 (26-24, 25-27, 25-19, 25-11) win in Canton, Ohio on Tuesday (Sept. 17) night.
The Eagles (7-2), who are in the midst of a stretch 11 matches in 17 days, won the first set with a few crucial points late. Sophomore Erin Krupar, the reigning GLIAC South Player of the Week, put down a kill to give the Eagles a 23-22 before the Pioneers (3-7) tied it.
Senior Sophi Cudworth then gave the Eagles set point at 24-23, then Malone fought it off. After that the Pioneers committed two straight errors to give the set to Ashland.
In the second set, the Eagles came out flying to a 9-1 lead, mostly with junior Lexi Lombardo on the serve. They got it 24-13, but Malone battled off 11 straight set points and took a 25-24 lead. Cudworth stopped the run, but the Pioneers got two straight blocks to even the match at 1.
The Eagles trailed in the third set, 13-11, then went on a 7-1 run as the rotation with junior Brooke Peiffer serving did its damage. Lombardo eventually finished the set with a kill.
The Eagles rolled in the fourth set by scoring 14 of the last 16 points as they held Malone to minus-.043 hitting. AU committed just two errors in Set 4.
Krupar led the Eagles with 19 kills (.273) to go with 12 digs while Lombardo added 10 kills (.357) and did not commit an error.
Junior McKinley Smith finished with 22 digs, leading the back row, and sophomore Zoey Peck had 25 assists and 17 digs. Sophomore Sophie Dahn added 17 digs.
Hannah Eliason paced Malone with 14 kills.
The Eagles will start a three-match homestand on Thursday (Sept. 19) at 7 p.m. against Illinois Springfield at Kates Gymnasium.
AU
VB/BB