Point Park volleyball concluded its 2024 season with a 3-0 sweep against the Salem Tigers on Friday, Nov. 15, in Salem, W. Va. The win awarded the Pioneers their second straight win, as the seniors savored their final moments on the court.

Senior outside hitter Rachele Tessari reflected on how the bittersweet ending to the season led to a win that was both heartfelt and dominant.

“Since it was our last game of the season, we wanted to end with a good memory, play together and have fun,” Tessari said. “It is precisely when you commit to a goal and play as a compact team that the results come.”

The Pioneers earned their fourth sweep of the season after a dominant third-set win, concluding with a 25-18 score. 

The Tigers posted 11 attack errors in set three as the Pioneers climbed up to an eight-point lead. Point Park recorded seven kills to command the set, and senior outside hitter Giulia Follador helped guarantee the sweep with three kills. 

“It was definitely a nice feeling,” Tessari said. “Ending with a positive memory will serve us when we look back at the past, and we can smile thinking that we ended in the best possible way.”

The Pioneers established the tone in set one, playing to extra points and eventually earning a 30-28 win. The set concluded with 18 tied scores but only five lead changes, and the Pioneers held a slight lead throughout.

After grasping a 19-14 lead, the Pioneers gave up five straight points to tie the score through the end of the set. After several back-and-forth points, the score sat at 28-28. This changed when senior Ana Baruh Krstic contributed a kill, followed by an ace from Follador to clinch set one.

“We went into the game with the mindset of leaving everything on the court,” senior libero Audrey Shull said. “We had nothing to lose and wanted to make our last game memorable. We went out there and played for each other and it showed in the score.”

The Pioneers took quick control of set two, establishing a 12-4 lead. A combined nine kills from Point Park led to a 25-17 win, and Point Park favorably entered the third and final set.

The tight-knit Point Park team celebrated its final game together. The Pioneers will graduate nine players, including frequent game leaders Follador, Eden McElhaney, Elise Wallace and Baruh Krstic.

“It definitely felt bittersweet,” Shull said. “Most of us knew it would be our last game playing together, so we were all emotional. But it felt good to end the season on a positive note.”

Shull led the team in service aces with three, followed by Tessari and Nadiushka Conde adding two aces each. Follador contributed a team-high eight kills, and McElhaney led the Pioneers with 10 digs. 

Wallace contributed 18 assists to end her final season with 565 assists in 2024. She recorded the fifth-highest assist average per set in the Mountain East Conference.

Shull, a native of California, concluded her third and final season with the Pioneers. She reflected on her biggest takeaways as she takes on the next chapter of her life.

“I’m so grateful for the friends the team has brought me,” Shull said. “Being so far away from home really made these girls my family and I couldn’t ask for better teammates or coaches.”

The Pioneers finished with a 4-10 conference record in their MEC debut, putting them last in the MEC North division. 

“In the end, I realized that the important things and the ones I will remember are not the victories or losses, but the people I met, the life lessons I learned and the crazy experiences I had,” Tessari said. 

After its non-conference win against the Tigers, Point Park ended with a 7-20 record overall.