BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University volleyball team pulled out a win in a five-set thriller against Millersville University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East division action, Friday night. After dropping the first set, 25-23, the Huskies won the second, fourth, and fifth sets to claim the victory.
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The Marauders won the first set 25-23 before the Huskies came back and claimed a 25-16 set-two victory to tie up the match. Millersville edged out the Huskies 25-23 in the third set and the Huskies returned the favor with a narrow 25-20 win in the fourth to force a fifth and deciding set.
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After the Huskies jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the fifth, the Marauders used a 5-1 run to take a 5-4 lead. Bloomsburg rattled off three straight points thanks to a pair of kills from senior
Mary Kate Mooney (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) and a sophomore
Aydan Espinal (Rock Hill, S.C./Rock Hill) service ace. A service error halted the BU run, but a Marauder attack error gave BU the 8-6 lead. Millersville came back to tie the set at 8-8 and eventually took a 9-8 lead. Senior
Sydney Buell (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) retired the set at 9-9 with her 15
th kill of the match. The Marauders scored two-straight to take an 11-9 lead but a service error got the Huskies back to within one, 11-10. A kill from Caitlyn Callahan pushed the Millersville lead back to two, 12-10, but sharp hitting from Buell and junior
Shayna Warfel (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) along with a Millersville attack error gave BU back the lead, 13-12. After a Bloomsburg error tied the game at 13-13, Warfel got the serve back for BU with her sixth kill and the first match point. Mooney closed out the match with her 12
th kill of the game with graduate student
Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) at the service line.
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Buell led the Huskies with 16 kills while Mooney posted 13 and senior
Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) collected 12 kills and seven blocks. Cianciulli finished the day with three aces and 41 digs while Espinal dished out 27 assists and senior
Bryn Stek (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) handed out 21.
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As a team, the Huskies had an impressive night at the net with 14 total blocks. Sophomore
Liz Bopp (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) led the team with eight block assists while Giza had seven block assists. Senior
Mia Nicholes (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) had one solo block and five block assists for the Huskies. Mooney finished with a pair of assists while Warfel had three block assists for the night. Buell added one assist to her already impressive stat line.
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The team hit .166 for the match with 59 kills and had 15 kills with just three errors and hit .316 in their 25-16 second set win.
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Bloomsburg hit .120 in the fifth and deciding set with nine kills, including Mooney's 12
th kill of the night thanks to an assist from Stek to close out the match win.
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Mooney finished the night with a 13-kill, 10-dig double-double for the Huskies.
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The Huskies have little time to rest as the return to the court at Nelson Field House tomorrow afternoon for a 1:00 pm showdown with PSAC East opponent, West Chester University.
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Follow the Huskies all season long on Twitter (@GoBUHuskies), Facebook (BUHuskies), and Instagram (BUHuskies)
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