HTML BOX SCORE

CALIFORNIA, Pa. - Redshirt senior Sarah Gomish (Ebensburg, Pa./Bishop Carroll Catholic) collected the 1,000th kill of her collegiate career on Saturday afternoon but it wasn't enough as the Bloomsburg University women's volleyball team dropped a four-set match at California University of Pennsylvania. The Huskies took the first set, 25-21, but lost the final three sets - 25-14, 26-24, 25-22 - to fall to 4-7 overall and 0-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Central Division. Meanwhile, the Vulcans improved to 9-5 overall and 2-0 in the PSAC Southwest Division.

Gomish, who played her first three seasons at Lock Haven University, entered Saturday's contest needing three kills to reach the milestone and she was able to record her third kill of the day during the opening set which, at the time, gave the Huskies a 21-14 advantage. Gomish finished the afternoon with 15 kills which tied freshman Mary Kate Mooney (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) for the team high in that department. The redshirt senior now has 1,012 kills for her collegiate career. Freshman Leslie O'Malley (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair), competing in her first match of the season, was third on the team with seven kills.

The Huskies led from wire-to-wire in the first set to jump in front of the Vulcans. Bloomsburg started quickly, building up an 8-3 advantage thanks to a pair of kills from Mooney and single kills from freshman Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) and freshman Alora Conrad (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley). Bloomsburg kept the pressure on and eventually extended the lead to seven, 21-14, after the milestone-reaching kill from Gomish. The Vulcans battled back, scoring seven of the next nine points, to cut the Bloomsburg lead to 23-21 which forced a Huskies' timeout. Following the breather, Bloomsburg scored the final two points on a pair of hitting errors by California and the Huskies took the opening set, 25-21.

California began the second set with a 10-5 lead before the Huskies battled back to cut the deficit to 12-11 by going on a mini 6-2 run. Gomish had three kills during the spurt while freshmen Emma Van Arsdale (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Mia Nicholes (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) each had one kill. After two straight points by the Vulcans, Giza had a kill to cut the lead to 14-12 before California went on an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 22-12. Mooney stopped the bleeding with a kill to cut the lead to nine, but the damage had been done and the Vulcans took the second set by a 25-14 final.

Bloomsburg took a 3-0 lead in the third set thanks to a California service error and a pair of kills from Gomish. But, the Vulcans responded with an 8-1 run to erase the deficit and take an 8-4 lead with the only Huskies' point during the stretch being a kill from Van Arsdale. Bloomsburg battled back and cut the lead to two, 14-12, with Gomish adding two more kills to aid the offense. Following a California timeout, the Vulcans scored the next four points to extend the advantage to 18-12. Again, the Huskies came back as they scored the next six points to tie the set at 18-18. O'Malley recorded the first two kills of her career while back-to-back aces from Van Arsdale forced another California timeout. The Vulcans went on a 5-0 run to take a 23-18 lead before the Huskies answered with a 5-0 run of their own to tie the set at 23-23 with Mooney recording a pair of kills during the stretch. California scored the next point but Mooney tied the set at 24-24 with a kill before the Vulcans tallied the final two points to take the second set, 26-24.

The fourth set went back-and-forth with the Huskies building up the largest lead at 14-11 after a kill from Gomish. Bloomsburg was still hanging on when O'Malley posted a kill, 18-17, before the Vulcans scored three straight points to take a 20-18 lead. The Huskies could not recover as California hung on for the 25-22 win to end the match.

Mooney had 15 kills and 12 digs while Gomish had 15 kills and 11 digs. Van Arsdale also had double digits in a pair of categories as she had 38 assists and 19 digs to go along with a team-high four aces. Sophomore Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) had a match-high 40 digs in a losing effort. Lois van Schaik led the Vulcans with 19 kills while Sarah Moehring added 13 in the victory.

The Huskies return to the Nelson Field House to play their first PSAC home matches on Friday, September 21 and Saturday, September 22. Bloomsburg will square off against the Crimson Hawks of IUP on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and then will host the Golden Eagles of Clarion on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.

Stay up to date with the Huskies all season long by following us on our official social media accounts: Twitter (@GoBUHuskies), Facebook (BUHuskies), and Instagram (BUHuskies).