ATHENS, W.Va. (Sept. 2) – The Vulcans opened play at the Concord Classic on Friday afternoon with a split of two matches, suffering a 3-0 loss to West Georgia before recording a 3-0 victory against Salem.

With the split, the California (PA) volleyball team improves to 3-2 this season while playing teams from four different conferences and an independent program.

Against Salem (0-10), the Vulcans cruised to a 3-0 sweep (25-13, 25-13, 25-13) after hitting at a staggering .385 clip and tallying 18 service aces. Cal registered its best hitting percentage since the 2019 campaign, plus posted its most aces since the 2017 season. Junior Alexa Malloy (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bishop Canevin) led the team with eight kills while hitting at a .375 clip and freshmen Elisa Rugiero (Vicenza, Italy, Farina Vicenza) and Oliwia Suboczewska (Wroclaw, Poland/SMW Wroclaw) both added seven kills in the victory. Freshman Adrianna Favata (Peoria, Ariz./Liberty) and sophomore Rachel Simon (Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling) guided the offense with 16 and 13 assists, respectively.

Junior Emily Buwawa (Uniontown, Pa./Laurel Highlands) paced the team with five aces, while Malloy and senior Chelsea Howard (Atlanta, Ga./North Atlanta) both collected a trio of aces. Defensively, Buwawa anchored the defensive effort with eight digs.

Against West Georgia (3-2), Cal dropped a 3-0 contest (21-25, 22-25, 20-25) after being held to a sub-.100 hitting percentage. Malloy tallied a team-leading 10 kills on a .529 hitting percentage and Suboczewska added eight kills in the match. Simon directed the offense with 12 assists, while Favata was credited with seven assists.

Buwawa finished with a team-high 12 digs and Suboczewska and senior Kaylin Burkey (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) collected nine and eight digs, respectively. Burkey also added three services aces in the contest.

The Vulcans continue play at the Concord Classic tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 3, with matches against Bluefield State and the host Mountain Lions, starting at 2 p.m.