EDINBORO, Pa. — Edinboro (10-13, 3-8 PSAC) lost to Slippery Rock (7-16, 1-10 PSAC) 3-1 on Friday. The Scots won the opening set 26-24 before dropping the next three 25-27, 21-25, 19-25.
After Slippery Rock moved in front 7-4, two
Taylor Pucky kills and a
Faith Schneider ace helped the Scots pull even. Two
Reilly Parent kills, and a
D'Aira Whitner/
Suncica Lekic block pushed the lead to 11-8. The Scots stretched the margin to 18-13 on a Slippery Rock service error, but Slippery Rock answered with five straight points, to tie the set at 18-18. Pucky and Parents kills gave the Scots 19-18 and 20-19 leads, but Slippery Rock answered to move in front 23-20. The Scots came back with a Whitner kill, a Parent service ace and two Slippery Rock attack errors to reach 24-23. Whitner's kill and a Whitner/
Josephine Bailey block closed the set 26-24.
Slippery Rock built the early separation in the second set, moving ahead 8-3 behind multiple blocks and kills. The Scots were still down 15-8 before
D'Aira Whitner had two kills and
Laney Burns served an ace during a stretch that helped cut the margin to 18-16. The Scots pulled even at 18-18 on a Pucky kill and a Slippery Rock attack error. The teams remained tied 22-22 before
Kennedy Caldwell's kill gave the Scots a 23-22 lead. Slippery Rock battled back to a 25-25 tie. Finally, Slippery Rock scored the last two points to close the set 27-25.
The Scots opened the third set with kills by
Grace Petro and Schneider for a 2-0 lead, but Slippery Rock answered 3-2. Whitner and Lekics kills helped keep it level at 4-4. Slippery Rock built a 9-5 lead with an ace by Marley Annis and kills from Victoria Nalbach and Ali Haynes. The Scots answered with a Pucky kill at 16-14 and consecutive Parent kills that narrowed the gap to 17-16. The Scots were within 21-20 after a Whitner kill, but Slippery Rock took the next three points to reach set point at 24-20. After a Schneider's kill, Ali Haynes finished the 25-21 set.
Slippery Rock put the Scots in an early 7-0 hole, before Whitner got the Scots on the board. The Scots worked back to 13-9 with help from a Schneider kill, and a Lekic and Pucky block.
Alexa Jordan continued with an ace, but Slippery Rock answered with three straight points to move ahead 16-9. After Slippery Rock stretch the margin to 22-14 with consecutive kills, the Scots scored four straight behind two Pucky kills and a Parent ace to get within 22-18. Finally, Slippery Rock worked ahead with multiple kills and finished the set 25-19 on Friedrichs' service ace.
D'Aira Whitner led the Scots with 15 kills, 16 points and a .375 hitting percentage. Schneider finished with a team-high 24 digs and added six kills. Parent recorded 17 digs, nine kills and three service aces. Bailey totaled six blocks, including two solo blocks.
Up next, the Fighting Scots volleyball team hosts Clarion on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 5 p.m. at McComb Fieldhouse in Edinboro, Pa.
