CANTON, Ohio – University of Charleston women's volleyball opened their 2017 season by splitting their two matches on the first day of the Hall of Fame City Challenge hosted by Malone University, rallying from two sets down to Mercyhurst to win in five in the nightcap.

Just the Basics


SCORES      
 
MATCH 1 Malone 3, Charleston 1 (23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 23-25)
MATCH 2 University of Charleston 3, Mercyhurst 2 (25-27, 21-25, 27-25, 25-22, 16-14)
 
TEAM RECORDS - Charleston (1-1, 0-0 MEC), Mercyhurst  (0-2, 0-0 PSAC), Malone (2-0, 0-0 GMAC)

Match Leaders
-Janeese VerVelde (UC) totaled 29 kills over two matches; hitting at a .481 attack percentage.
-Chloe Massaro and Claire Lambert shared the setter position for the Golden Eagles, with Massaro leading UC with 47 assists through two matches.
-Kelsey Matusic (UC) came up with 39 digs defensively for Charleston, committing just five errors over nine sets of play.
-Malone had three players with 10 kills in their 3-1 win over UC, led by Veronica Gehring hitting at .267 in the victory.
-Cathryn Miller (Malone) paced the team in assists (37) and digs (13).
-Mercyhurst's Shelby Chesko tied UC's VerVelde with 15 kills, despite falling 3-2 in five sets.

How it Happened
MATCH 1
In the opener, Charleston got off to a slow start losing five of the first six points before rallying back only to come up two points short to drop the opening set. In the second set, Malone fought back from a 7-1 deficit, winning seven of the last nine points in a 25-20 victory. After being swept in three sets by the Golden Eagles last season, the Pioneers nearly returned the favor, but UC closed out the third set on an 8-1 run to force a fourth. The two teams battled to a 22-22 deadlock in the final frame, but a few late Golden Eagles errors allowed Malone to capture the victory.
 
Despite landing 10 fewer kills against Charleston, the Pioneers took advantage of 47 Golden Eagle errors on their way to their third consecutive season-opening victory.
 
 
MATCH 2
The Golden Eagles faced match point twice -- during the third and fifth sets -- but ultimately rallied to earn their first win of 2017, 25-27, 21-25, 27-25, 25-22, 16-14.

Mercyhurst faced set point in the opening set, but a 6-1 run helped the Lakers take a 1-0 match lead.

In the second, the Lakers snapped an 18-all tie and outscored Charleston, 7-3, the rest of the way to take a 2-0 advantage.

Facing match point in the third, Charleston stormed to a 4-1 run to claim the set. UC used another run in the fourth -- a five-point streak -- to erase an 18-16 deficit and eventually even the match at 2-2.

Then, in the fifth, Mercyhurst led 14-12 before Charleston ended the match with a 4-0 run led by kills from VerVelde and Clark, and an ace from Lambert to steal the win.
 

 
Up Next
-Charleston returns to the court tomorrow in day two of the Hall of Fame City Challenge, squaring off with Northwood University at 11:30 a.m. before finishing their opening weekend of play with West Alabama at 7:00 p.m.
 
--UC--