Women's Volleyball | 9/12/2025 11:27:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Canton, Ohio. – The Bloomsburg volleyball team split its first two games at the Hall of Fame City Challenge on Friday, sweeping Bluefield State before falling to Illinois-Springfield in four sets.
 
Four Huskies finished the day with double-digit kills with Katie Kuehl (Aston, Pa./Archmere Academy (Del.)) leading the team with 28. Kuehl posted a career-high in kills against Illinois-Springfield with 20. Emily Gustie (Crofton, Md./Crofton) and Marlee Johnson (Newville, Pa./Big Spring) each finished with 15 kills while Jordan Pryor (Middletown, Md./Middletown) recorded 12. As a team, the Huskies posted 90 kills on the day.
 
 
Game 1 – Bloomsburg 3, Bluefield State 0 (25-23, 25-7, 25-18)
 
Bloomsburg (3-3) grabbed the early momentum in the first set as kills from Johnson, Kuehl and Gustie and an ace from Pryor helped give the Huskies a 6-1 lead. Bluefield State (1-5) responded quickly, rattling off seven-straight points in a row to take an 8-6 lead. A kill from Kuehl then gave the Huskies the serve back, setting the stage for a pair of kills and an ace from Allison Saalfrank (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) to regain the lead. After a quick back-and-forth exchange, Jordan Pryor (Middletown, Md./Middletown) recorded a trio of aces in a 5-0 run to make it 18-13. Several short runs from the Big Blue put pressure on the maroon and gold but Colleen Doyle (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) closed out the set with an ace.
 
The Huskies dominated the second set from the very beginning, surging ahead with a 9-1 run to start the frame. Three kills and an ace from Gustie highlighted the run while Lydia Worthing (Tyrone, Pa./Bellwood Antis), Kuehl and Pryor each contributed kills. The maroon and gold then went on an eight-point run that featured three aces from Jessica Rimbo (Lemont, Ill./Lemont). The Huskies allowed just three more point en route to Clare McKenzie (Foothills County, Alberta/Holy Trinity Academy) closing out the set, 25-7, with her first career ace. It is the largest winning-margin in a set in program history.
 
Gustie got the Huskies off to a strong start in the third set, scoring the first point on a kill before tallying back-to-back aces. Bluefield State swung the momentum back in its favor on a 9-1 run to take the lead. Sophie Wales (Port Matilda, Pa./State College) and Kuehl each got a kill in a four-point swing that brought Bloomsburg within one. The two sides then exchange points to a 14-10 Bluefield lead. The maroon and gold retook the lead on a five-point run that saw kills from Gustie, Johnson and Worthing. Another quick back-and-forth then set the stage for the Huskies to close out the set, 25-18, on a 9-2 scoring run.
 
The game-ending run saw the program's all-time aces leader, Saalfrank add three more to her record as she finished the game with a team-leading five service aces. Pryor followed closely behind with four aces while Gustie and Rimbo each tallied three. Bloomsburg ended the game with 17 aces, the second-most in program history and the most in a three-set contest.
 
Gustie led the team in both kills (9) and digs (8) while Kuehl ended with eight kills. Setter Erin Clark (Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert) finished the game with 25 assists.
 
Game 2 – Illinois-Springfield 3, Bloomsburg 1 (19-25, 22-25, 26-24, 22-25)
 
Illinois-Springfield (4-1) jumped out into the lead at the start of the match, taking a quick 4-1 lead. Bloomsburg responded with six-straight points to take a 7-4 lead over the Prairie Stars. After the score moved to 9-7 in favor of the Huskies, UIS posted their own six-point run to take the 13-9 advantage. Bloomsburg battled throughout the remainder of the set but was unable to close the gap, falling 15-19 in the opening frame.
 
The second set got off to a much closer start as the two sides battled in lockstep to an 8-6 lead for the Prairie Stars. Two short three-point runs for Illinois-Springfield provided a six-point cushion in the middle of the set at 14-8. The team continued to trade points for the remainder of the set and despite a late surge from the Huskies, the Prairie Stars took set two 25-22.
 
Bloomsburg found itself behind early in the third set as UIS took a quick 3-0 lead. Worthing notched the first point for the Huskies with a kill that set off a back-and-forth exchange. UIS slowly pulled extend its lead to five points before the maroon and gold went on a 6-2 run to close the gap to 12-11. After each team posted matching three-point runs the Huskies and the Prairie Stars traded points to an 18-17 score. UIS then recorded two kills and two aces to take a 22-17 lead.
 
Each side then missed a serve to make the score 23-18. Another error from the Illinois-Springfield gave the Huskies the serve which Kuehl followed up with a pair of kills to make it 23-21. UIS got a kill of its own from Kendall Johnson and needed just one more point to close out the set.  Kuehl then picked up another kill before a pair of errors leveled the core at 24-24. Pryor kept the Huskies alive with back-to-back kills to force a fourth set.
 
Kuehl opened the fourth set with a kill before an error from the Prairie Stars made it 2-0 Bloomsburg. Bloomsburg didn't stay in the lead for long as UIS took a 3-2 lead on two kills and an ace. From there, the two sides traded points until Illinois-Springfield eventually grabbed a 12-9 advantage. The Huskies benefited from four-consecutive errors from the Prairie Stars to take a 13-12 lead. After another back-and-forth, UIS surged ahead to a 22-16 lead on the back of an 8-1 run. Despite Bloomsburg's best efforts, they were unable to force a fifth set, falling 25-22.
 
Kuehl's career-high 20 kills is the third most in a four-set game in program history and tied for the sixth-most across any number of sets. The sophomore posted a .390 attack percentage.
 
Johnson posted nine kills in the contest while Pryor tallied seven. Gustie had six kills while leading the team in digs with 16. Clark notched a double-double with 27 assists and 10 digs.
 
The Huskies return to action on Saturday, September 13 for day two of the Hall of Fame City Challenge as the face off against Malone at 1:30 p.m. and Slippery Rock at 6 p.m.