Photo by Logan Smith

(CANTON, Ohio) – Walsh avenged an earlier season loss to its rival Malone as it returned the favor with a 3-1 win at Osborne Hall Tuesday evening. In doing so, it provided the Cavaliers their 10th win of the season.

The Cavs (10-16, 3-11) opened the match with wins in the first two sets by scores of 25-23 and 25-21 before the Pioneers (10-19, 3-11) answered with a 25-20 win in the third set. Walsh closed out the match with a 25-19 victory in the fourth frame.

Walsh was focused from the start and showed it with a 6-0 run to start the opening set. Kelsey Snider was a big part of that rally as she laid down four spikes in the first five points. Erica Schiets served for all six points and helped her cause with an ace and a kill to make the score 6-0.

As the score indicated, Malone made a run of its own and eventually took the lead on an ace by Mallory Adams. That made the score 14-13 in favor of the Pioneers, but Walsh played close the rest of the way and eventually took the set after a kill by Janelle Yunker.

The second set played similar to the first in that the Cavaliers saw themselves with a decent lead at 13-7 which caused Malone to call a timeout. The Cavs scored the next point to go up seven, but the Pioneers rallied and eventually took the lead at 20-19 after an attack error by the Maroon and Gold.

Walsh was not deterred and answered back with a Gina Kramer kill that started a 6-1 run to go up 2-0. Madison Music served for the last four points and closed the set with an ace.

After the Pioneers controlled the majority of set three to cut the deficit to 2-1, the Cavs took the match with a strong performance in the fourth in which they never trailed. Malone was tied with Walsh at 9-9, but the Cavs scored five-straight points to take control of the set. After some lengthy volleys late in the set, Walsh finally closed out the match with a kill by Devin Hummel.

Hummel was one of three players in double figures in kills as Walsh was impressive in spreading its offense over the floor. She finished with 12 kills, second to Snider's 13. Snider finished with a double-double as she picked up 15 digs on the night as well. Liza Pflugradt added 10 kills for Walsh to round out the double-figure attackers.

Defensively three players were also in double-figures in digs. In addition to Snider, Kaitlin Bronikowski added 17 and Schiets tallied 11.

Malone was paced by Elizabeth Maczuzak with 16 kills and 11 digs. Veronica Gehring added 14 kills for the Pioneers.

Walsh will attempt to keep the momentum rolling as they return home to Alumni Arena for its final two home matches of the season. First up will be a date with Findlay as the Cavs entertain the Oilers Friday at 7 p.m.