The Slippery Rock University volleyball team (6-2) went 3-1 at the Davis and Elkins Tournament this past weekend, winning two games in straight sets.
In the opening game against Glenville State College, a group of underclassmen led the Rock to victory. Sophomore outside hitter Leah Jones and sophomore middle/outside hitter Jaden Zimmer had eight and seven kills respectively, and freshman opposite Emily Sokolowski also had seven kills. Sophomore defensive specialist Anna Mease also tallied five service aces in the team’s three set win (25-12, 25-10, 25-16).
In the night portion of the tournament, the Rock took a 3-0 victory over UVA-Wise. Senior outside hitter Kristy Lake led the Rock with a double-double of 18 digs and 14 kills. She held a .297 attack percentage as SRU continued to beat the Cavaliers by set match scores of 25-17, 28-26, and 25-18.
“We executed better in the three matches we won,” SRU head coach Laurie Lokash said. “Serving and passing were definitely better than the previous week. This year, hopefully will be a year that will be a year of evolution.”
On the second day of the tournament, the Green and White faced Urbana University of Ohio and Concord University.
Urbana opened the match with a first set score of 25-23. The Rock answered with a second set score of 25-22. SRU finished off Urbana with set wins of 25-18 and 25-12.
Rock senior setter Janna Reilly racked up 14 kills (.306 attack percentage), four blocks, and two service aces.
In the second game of the night, SRU took on Concord University. Concord outlasted the Rock 32-30 before winning the next two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-19. Lake had 12 kills and a pair of straight service aces.
Freshman outside hitter Bethany Pike had nine kills, while Jones had five kills and a team-high 11 digs.
Sophomore setter Nicole Fortuna recorded 20 assists, while Reilly tallied 18 assists and a pair of aces.
On Tuesday night, the Green and White hosted West Liberty University for their home opener at the Morrow Field House where the team earned a win in straight sets (25.21, 29-27, 25-23).
“It was great win for us,” Lokash said. “It is a growing process for us, and as we mature and become more comfortable with each other as a team on the court, we will hopefully improve.”
Lake recorded a team-high 11 kills and added another 14 digs to earn her third double-double of the season. Reilly had 18 assists and eight digs.
Jones, Fortuna, and Mease played key roles. Jones just missed a double-double with nine kills and a team-high 17 digs, along with two service aces.
Fortuna tallied a pair of aces and tied her career-high of 22 assists as she led the Rock’s offense.
Mease also added 14 digs.
Sokolowski racked up a total of nine kills to go along with a .304 attack percentage, while adding three blocks.
Junior opposite Kristen Smith had 10 digs.
The match featured 22 tied scores along with eight lead changes.
The Rock finished with the advantages of 45-41 kills, .172-.151 attack percentage, 82-80 digs, and 6-5 total blocks.
The Green and White will face East Stroudsburg University on Friday in West Chester, Pennsylvania at 2 p.m., and then face West Chester University at 7:30 p.m.
