Point Park volleyball goes 2-0 on final weekend to close out 2023 season in style

PITTSBURGH -- Point Park University volleyball closed out its 2023 season in winning fashion picking up River States Conference home victories over WVU Tech, 3-1, on Friday night followed up by a 3-0 sweep of Alice Lloyd (Ky.) on Senior Day.

The Pioneers sent out their four seniors in style. The got off to a great start with a thrilling win over playoff team WVU Tech on Friday night. Point Park won the first two sets in control throughout, 25-19, 25-16. 

The third set played out in epic fashion. After multiple set points for the Golden Bears and a few match points for the Pioneers, WVU Tech extended the match, 34-32. But the Pioneers made sure it did not go to the fifth holding off the visitors 25-22 in the fourth. 

Point Park had 64 kills in the match with 21 coming in the third set alone. Reaching double digits for the Pioneers were Eden McElhaney with 15 along with a match-high 24 digs as well as Amanda Contois with 13 kills and Giulia Follador with 10. Contois hit .375 and put down the match point to seal the victory. 

Haley Stormer put down nine kills and hit .500 with only one error in 16 attempts. Ashlynn Gulakowski had nine kills and zero along with her 23 assists from the setter position. Elise Wallace had a team-high 26 assists. 

The back-row defense was a balanced effort with 17 digs from Kenzie Zauner as well as 14 from Mia Arndt and 13 from Lily Marchand. 

The Senior Day win over Alice Lloyd came by scores of 25-22, 25-8, 26-24. Prior to the match, the four seniors Amanda Contois, Giulia Follador, Ashlynn Gulakowski and Kenzie Zauner were honored. Special mention was given to fourth-year player Elise Wallace, who will come back next year for a fifth season. 

The Pioneers shook off some lulls in the first set to eventually take care of business in the opening stanza. 

The second set was all Point Park as the Pioneers hit .475 as a team. There were 12 kills and just three errors. Point Park tallied another 16 kills in the third to put the match away. 

Alice Lloyd did not go away in the third until the end. The Eagles battled back to forge ties at 23-23 and 24-24. But McElhaney and Stormer were there with the last two kills to finish things off. 

McElhaney had one last double-double on the year with 15 kills and 10 digs. Follador and Contois finished with eight and seven kills, respectively. Stormer put up another nine kills.