HTML BOX SCORE vs GRAND VALLEY STATE
HTML BOX SCORE vs VIRGINIA UNION

NORTH CANTON, Ohio - It was an historic day for the Bloomsburg University women's volleyball program on Friday as the Huskies not only stepped on the court for the first time in the program's history but, after suffering a loss to Grand Valley State in the opener, bounced back to record the program's first victory - a 3-1 win over Virginia Union - to conclude day one at the Walsh Tournament. Grand Valley State swept the Huskies in three sets - 25-19, 25-19, 26-24 - to improve to 4-1 on the young season. Bloomsburg, meanwhile, earned a four-set victory over the Panthers - 25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 25-23 - to drop Virginia Union to 1-5 overall.

In the opener against the Lakers, freshman Mary Kate Mooney (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) recorded the first point in program history by putting down a kill off of an assist from freshman Sydney Buell (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the first set. The teams went back-and-forth early in the first set before Bloomsburg built up a 10-6 advantage after a kill by redshirt senior Sarah Gomish (Ebensburg, Pa./Bishop Carroll Catholic). The Huskies still maintained a four-point lead at 14-10 before Grand Valley State went on a 10-2 run to force a Huskies' timeout. Bloomsburg was never able to regroup as the Lakers took the first set, 25-19.

Bloomsburg scored the first point of the second set after a Grand Valley State error but the Lakers bounced back with seven consecutive points to take a 7-1 lead. The Huskies trimmed the lead to five on several different occasions but could never get closer as the Lakers won the second set by an identical 25-19 margin.

The third set started in the Huskies' favor as Bloomsburg raced out to a 10-2 lead. During the spurt, Mooney had a pair of kills while freshmen Molly Prior (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) and Mia Nicholes (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) added one apiece. The Lakers, however, responded with a 10-3 run of their own to cut the Huskies' advantage to 13-12. Bloomsburg bounced back and rebuilt the lead to as many as five, 21-16, before Grand Valley State scored 10 of the final 13 points to complete the sweep with a 26-24 win.

Gomish led the Huskies with nine kills and nine digs while Buell and Mooney chipped in with five kills apiece. Freshman Emma Van Arsdale (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) led the way with 20 assists and sophomore Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) posted a team-high 13 digs defensively. Alexandra Thompson and Abby Graham led the Lakers as they each posted nine kills and 13 digs. Ashlyn Kartes had 25 assists and 15 digs.

Bloomsburg started quickly in the opening set against Virginia Union as the Huskies raced out to a 5-0 lead on a pair of service aces from Van Arsdale and three attacking errors by the Panthers. Virginia Union pulled to within a point at 9-8 before the Huskies again pulled away and built up a 22-14 lead. Buell and Gomish had three kills apiece during the run. The Panthers pulled to within five before Gomish preserved the Huskies' first set victory in program history with a kill for the 25th point.

Bloomsburg jumped out to a 14-5 lead in the second set but saw the lead evaporate quickly as the Panthers scored 17 of the next 18 points to take a 22-15 advantage. The Huskies scored the next five points to trim the lead to 22-20 but could get no closer as Virginia Union took the second set, 25-22.

The pivotal third set was even early but Bloomsburg was able to put together a 9-2 run after Virginia Union grabbed an 11-10 advantage. During the 9-2 spurt, Buell had a pair of kills while freshman Bryn Stek (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) added a kill and an ace. The Panthers pulled to within three late but the Huskies were able to hold off the rally and post a 25-19 win to take a two sets to one lead.

The fourth set was tight as the largest lead by either team was Bloomsburg by as many as four points on two different occasions. With the Huskies leading 21-17, the Panthers rallied for the next three points to cut the lead to 21-20. Bloomsburg then grabbed leads of 22-20 and 23-21 before Virginia Union tied the set at 23-23 which forced a Bloomsburg timeout. The breather worked as Mooney gave the Huskies a 24-23 lead with a kill and then Van Arsdale ended the first win in program history with an ace - her sixth of the match.

Mooney had a team-high 15 kills to go along with a dozen digs for a team-high 17.5 points. Buell added 12 kills and seven digs while Gomish chipped in with 11 kills and seven digs. Gomish led the way with a .500 hitting percentage after posting 11 kills and only one error in 20 attempts. Van Arsdale had 26 assists, six aces, and seven digs while Cianciulli led the team with 23 digs. Jada Starling paced the Panthers with 11 kills in a losing effort.

The Huskies will conclude the Walsh Tournament on Saturday as they will square off against the host Cavaliers at 9:00 a.m. before battling Adelphi University at 1:00 p.m. to end the two-day weekend.

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