Box Score MIDWAY, Ky. – Point Park University volleyball came alive for a 15-6 win in the fifth set to secure a 3-2 win at Midway (Ky.) University on Friday night.
The Pioneers (17-5, 11-0 RSC) won the first two sets in close fashion to stake a 2-0 lead in the match. Midway (13-4, 8-4 RSC) tied the match by winning the next two.
But Point Park regained its form and won the match going away to stay undefeated in the conference at 11-0. The Pioneers won the match, 26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 14-25, 15-6.
It was a matchup of big hitters on each side, and the Pioneers came out on top. Each team had three players in double digits for kills, and each side of the net and their big gun leading the way.
For Point Park, that was Stephanie Rivera-Pacheco with 18 kills to go along with 17 digs. Her kills mounted as the match wore on, and she came up big in the key spots as she has all year.
Midway had leading hitter Aubry Koester bang away with 22 kills, and she powered the Eagles back into the match after the 2-0 deficit.
The Pioneers had Giulia Follador come in with 12 kills and three blocks, and Madison Sima posted 11 kills and eight digs. Melissa Schroeder added seven kills, just one error and a .300 percentage from the middle as the Pioneers had enough on the attack.
Anju Sugiya had 13 kills, and Brooke Trompler 10 kills and 11 digs for Midway.
Point Park had balanced efforts from its two setters with Ashlynn Gulakowski recording 22 assists and four kills and Star Lakin getting 22 assists and eight digs.
Midway had Pilar Daugherty put up 36 assists as the Eagles' setter.
The Point Park back row had Ashley Castelli lead the way with 19 digs and Rivera-Pacheco's 17 as those two combined for most of the work. Kenzie Zauner picked up nine digs. Kassandra Tejeda collected six digs as well as four blocks at the net.
Mariana Rodriguez was carrying the load in the Midway backline with 29 digs.
The first set was tied at 24-24 before a service error by Midway pulled the Pioneers within set point. Rivera-Pacheco followed with one of her three service aces for the 1-0 lead.
The Pioneers were trailing, 21-18, in the second before some big kills swung things their way. Schroeder started the rally with a kill, and Rivera-Pacheco followed with two more in a row to tie the score.
Two more kills by Rivera-Pacheco gave the Pioneers leads of 23-21 and 24-23 before an error gave the Pioneers the set and the 2-0 lead.
Midway got its attack together in the third and fourth to climb back into the match. The fourth set featured 17 kills by the Eagles and a .412 hitting percentage as they evened the match.
But the fifth set was all Point Park. The Pioneers got out to leads of 4-1 and 6-3 before really asserting control at 10-4. The Pioneers had eight kills in the set as the points kept coming their way.
Two kills in a row by Sima and then a service ace by Tejeda set up match point. After an extended rally at 14-6, Follador and Schroeder combined on a block for the win.
The Pioneers will continue their road trip in Kentucky with Saturday's matchup at Alice Lloyd (Ky.). First serve is 12:00 p.m. from Pippa Passes, Ky. The match will be streamed on the Alice Lloyd Facebook page with links to live coverage at PointParkSports.com/Live.
