November 3, 2007

Malone Wraps Up Regular Season With Pair of Victories

 
The Malone College volleyball team secured a second place finish in the American Mideast Conference North Division on Saturday after posting a pair of victories in its home tri-match with Point Park (PA) University and Daemen (NY) College.  Malone opened the day with a 30-22, 30-20, 31-29 sweep of Point Park and then outlasted Daemen in the afternoon’s finale 30-18, 26-30, 30-20, 27-30, 15-13 (Daemen defeated Point Park 26-30, 30-18, 31-29, 30-22 prior to its match with Malone).  Malone and Point Park had entered the tri-match tied for second in the division standings, but with its pair of victories, Malone improved its AMC North record to 11-3 (21-16 overall) and thus locked up a second place finish and the #2 North seed in next weekend’s AMC Postseason Tournament.  After splitting its matches, Daemen moved to 11-25 overall (5-9 AMC North) while Point Park dropped to 25-12 (9-5 AMC North) with the two losses.
 
Against Point Park in Saturday’s opener, Jennifer Gahagan (Fr., Ravenna Southeast H.S.) paced Malone with 12 kills and 16 digs.  Erica Gann (So., Meadowbrook H.S.) followed with 10 kills and three blocks (all solo), Lori Ickes (Fr., Smithville H.S.) posted nine kills and 13 digs, while Kristen Schoolcraft (So., McKinley H.S.) added seven kills and eight blocks (four solo).  Other important contributors in the three-match win included Alyssa Dibell (So., Fairless H.S.) with 35 assists and Bethany Thompson (Jr., Tusc. Central Catholic H.S.) with three service aces.
 
In the finale with Daemen, Gahagan again led the way with 15 kills, 21 digs, and three service aces.  Gann notched 13 kills and seven blocks (one solo) while Schoolcraft tallied 12 kills and a season-high nine blocks (four solo).  Ickes crushed 10 kills and scooped up 19 digs in the five-game triumph. In addition, Dibell contributed 40 assists, four blocks (one solo), and 19 digs.
 
This week, Malone (21-16, 11-3 AMC North) will participate in the six-team AMC Tournament hosted by NAIA #13 Mount Vernon Nazarene University (35-2, 11-1 AMC South) on Friday and Saturday.  The Pioneers will participate in pool-play matches on Friday afternoon with their opponents and match times still to be determined.  The top two teams in each of the three-team pools will then advance to the semifinals on Saturday.  The winner of the AMC Tournament receives an automatic berth in the NAIA National Tournament in Columbia, Missouri on November 28-December 1.
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