NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- The Fairmont State volleyball team split on the opening day of the Cavalier Volleyball Classic to open the 2016 season.
 
The Falcons opened the day with a dominating performance over Glenville State (25-12, 25-12, 25-13) before falling in five sets to Davis & Elkins (21-25, 25-15, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13).
 
Everyone on the Fairmont State roster saw action in the three-set sweep against Glenville, as FSU was led by Julia Shemaitis with 10 kills and 10 digs, recordeding a .562 attacking percentage. Breanna Blot also chipped in eight kills with a .500 attacking percentage and Mackenzie Harrison drove home seven kills and three blocks assists.
 
Junior setter Jessica Furda guided the FSU offense with 21 assists.
 
The Falcons recorded a .369 attacking percentage in the victory while limited the Pioneers to a -.064 attacking percentage, recording just 15 kills compared to 20 errors.
 
In the second match of the day against the Senators, Harrison led the Falcons with 18 kills, 11 digs and four blocks assists. The Falcons were also strong in the middle against D&E as Blot chipped in 10 kills and Kayla Smith added nine.
 
Furda had her second strong performance of the day by totaling 33 assists and 15 digs in the narrow loss. Alexa Gore also chipped in 13 assists to help guide the FSU offense.
 
Defensively the Falcons had five players reach doubles figures as Megan Clerico (35), Morgan Poling (11) and Shemaitis (11) joined Harrison and Furda in double figures. Clerico's 35 dig performance against Davis & Elkins is a new career-high.
 
The Senators held a slim margin in hitting percentage and finished the match with a 9-5 advantage in blocks during the five-set thriller.
 
The Falcons will return to action at 9 a.m. Saturday when they face Bellarmine to kick-off day two of the Walsh Volleyball Classic. Bellarmine went 2-0 on the opening day by defeating D&E and Urbana.