Pioneers earn conference sweep at Brescia (Ky.) to close out road weekend

OWENSBORO, Ky. -- Point Park University volleyball earned a clean sweep at Brescia (Ky.) University on Saturday, 3-0. The Pioneers notched their first River States Conference sweep of the year in taking the match, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19. 

Point Park (6-16, 3-11 RSC) bounced back from a tough loss the night before, 3-2, at Oakland City (Ind.). The Pioneers then had to make the trip to another state after coming up just short of the reverse sweep on Friday night. 

Point Park never trailed in Saturday's match to dispatch Brescia in straight sets. That included a 9-2 lead to set a tone from the opening serve. The Pioneers later built a 10-point lead on a kill by Eden McElhaney. 

The second set again had the Pioneers get out to early control at 6-2. Brescia got as close as 20-17, but the Pioneers stayed strong to finish off the set. 

Point Park's 8-3 lead in the third was trimmed down to 14-13 later on. But Haley Stormer capped off a run of fourth straight points as the Pioneers pushed it to 18-13. A kill by Giulia Follador set up match point at 24-16. 

The Pioneers led in kills, 38-20. It was a team effort with McElhaney leading the way with 10 kills. Ten different players had a kill with Stormer chipping in six, Mariah Perez five and Amanda Contois four as some other leaders. 

Kenzie Zauner led the back row with 18 digs while McElhaney earned another double-doube with 12 digs. Lily Marchand reached double-digits with 10.

Ashlynn Gulakowski and Elise Wallace set things up with 16 and 13 assists, respectively. Wallace and McElhaney threw in three service aces apiece. 

Point Park will return home to play Rio Grande (Ohio) in an RSC East Division matchup on Oct. 24 at 6:00 p.m.