HTML BOX SCORE vs NEBRASKA-KEARNEY
HTML BOX SCORE vs WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN

CALIFORNIA, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University women's volleyball team wrapped up action at the California (Pa.) Vulcan Invitational by splitting a pair of matches on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies hung tough with the top-ranked team in the country, Nebraska-Kearney, but succumbed in straight sets - 25-17, 25-15, 25-11 - in the opening match of the day. Bloomsburg then knocked off West Virginia Wesleyan in four sets - 25-23, 18-25, 34-32, 25-21 - to finish the tournament with a 2-2 record. On the season, Bloomsburg moved its overall mark to 4-5 in the program's inaugural season. Nebraska-Kearney improved to 11-0 while West Virginia Wesleyan fell to 0-9.

For the second consecutive weekend, redshirt senior Sarah Gomish (Ebensburg, Pa./Bishop Carroll Catholic) was named to the All-Tournament Team after earning the same accolade at the Walsh University Tournament last Friday and Saturday. Gomish totaled 63 kills and 44 digs over the course of the four matches, saving her best for last when she posted 28 kills and 18 digs in the wild four-set victory over West Virginia Wesleyan.

In the opener against Nebraska-Kearney, the Huskies were not fazed early as Bloomsburg scored the first four points of the first set with freshman Mary Kate Mooney (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II), Gomish, and freshman Mia Nicholes (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) each collecting kills. Bloomsburg kept with the Lopers and still maintained an 11-7 advantage after a hitting error from Nebraska-Kearney's Julianne Jackson. However, the Lopers applied the pressure on the young Huskies and eventually took a 14-13 lead by scoring seven of the next nine points. After Bloomsburg tied the set at 14-14, Nebraska-Kearney scored the next three points and never trailed the rest of the way, eventually building the final margin to eight.

The Huskies again jumped out quickly in the second set, taking a 3-0 lead on a Nebraska-Kearney error and two kills from Gomish. Bloomsburg still led 7-5 after a kill from freshman Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) only to see the Lopers score the next six points erase the deficit and take an 11-7 advantage. The Huskies could get no closer than three points the rest of the way as Nebraska-Kearney pulled away for a ten-point win.

Nicholes and Gomish gave the Huskies a 2-0 lead at the outset of the third set before Nebraska-Kearney scored nine of the next eleven points to take a 9-4 lead which forced a Huskies' timeout. Following the breather, Bloomsburg rattled off three straight points on kills from freshman Sydney Buell (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) and Mooney and a Loper hitting error. But, Nebraska-Kearney scored seven unanswered points to pull away, 16-7, and after the Huskies pulled to within seven at 18-11, scored the final seven points of the set to close out the match.

Gomish paced the Huskies with eight kills while chipping in with ten digs. Nicholes, Buell, and Mooney added five kills apiece for the Huskies, who were held to a negative hitting percentage by the Nebraska-Kearney defense. Freshman Emma Van Arsdale (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) had 23 assists while sophomore Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) had a team high 26 digs. The Lopers had a team-high nine kills from Emma Benton and 35 assists from Lindsey Smith. One of the major differences was at the net where the Lopers had nine team blocks while the Huskies could muster only two - one each from Nicholes and Giza.

Bloomsburg and West Virginia Wesleyan then put on a show in the final match of the afternoon as the Huskies outlasted the Bobcats in four sets, including a wild 34-32 victory in the third.

In the opening set, the Bobcats took a 3-0 lead before a kill from Mooney got the Huskies on the board. West Virginia Wesleyan continued to add to the advantage, building the lead to 7-3, before the Huskies scored eight consecutive points to erase the deficit and take an 11-7 edge. Gomish started the spurt with a kill, followed by three straight hitting errors from the Bobcats. Giza, Mooney, and Buell added kills and then a ball-handling error from the Bobcats marked the final point of the run before West Virginia Wesleyan stopped the bleeding. The Huskies built the lead to 14-9 before the Bobcats fought back and eventually took a 17-15 lead. The teams went back-and-forth with West Virginia Wesleyan leading 23-22 before the Huskies posted a comeback with the final three points to steal the opening set. Giza and Mooney had kills and Cianciulli ended it with an ace.

The Bobcats nearly led from start-to-finish in the second set with Bloomsburg's largest lead coming at 5-2. After West Virginia Wesleyan took a 9-8 lead, it never trailed the rest of the way and went on to post a 25-18 victory to even the match at a set apiece. That set up the wild third set.

West Virginia Wesleyan built up the largest lead of the set at three points on our different occasions with the latest occurrence coming at 17-14. The Huskies scored the next three points to tie the set at 17-17 and then back-and-forth it went. Bloomsburg built a two-point advantage at 23-21 on back-to-back kills from Gomish and Giza before the Bobcats scored the next three points to take a 24-23 advantage. It was the first of five set points for the Bobcats that the Huskies were able to counter. Meanwhile, the Huskies had four set points before finally putting it away on an ace from Van Arsdale to end the longest set in the program's short history. With the Bobcats leading 32-31, a hitting error, an assisted block from Giza and Buell, and then the ace from Van Arsdale gave the Huskies the win.

In the third set alone, Gomish had 10 kills and 10 digs while Cianciulli had 14 digs and Van Arsdale had 16 assists.

The fourth set went much like the third set as neither team built up a lead of more than two points until the very end when the Huskies scored the final four points of the set to snap a 21-21 tie. Gomish started the run with a kill followed by a Bobcat hitting error to give the Huskies a 23-21 lead. Following a West Virginia Wesleyan timeout, Giza had a kill and then Van Arsdale ended the set, and the match, with an ace.

Gomish posted 28 kills and only six errors in 68 attempts for a .324 hitting percentage in the match. She added 18 digs in the victory. Buell had ten kills while Giza chipped in with eight. Cianciulli collected a whopping 52 digs in the match while adding three service aces. Van Arsdale had 53 assists, eight digs, and two aces - both of which closed out the final two sets. Emily Doyle had 12 kills and 24 digs to lead West Virginia Wesleyan in both categories.

The Huskies will play their first conference match in program history when they head to Greensburg, Pennsylvania to match up against the Griffins of Seton Hill on Friday, September 14. Start time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The following afternoon, Bloomsburg will be back in California to meet the Vulcans for a 1:00 p.m. start.

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