LIVONIA, Mich. – On a night when Madonna University honored the 2018 men's lacrosse Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Champions and NAIA Runners-up, the 19th-ranked volleyball team put on a show as they dominated Rochester College in a three set sweep, 25-18, 25-11, 25-15, at the MU Activities Center on Friday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED: No. 19 Madonna (10-1, 2-0 WHAC) 3, Rochester (2-12, 1-1 WHAC) (25-18, 25-11, 25-15)

• Set one

  • The teams traded a few side-outs in the early going and the visitors held a 5-4 lead, that is until the Crusaders asserted control. A Ryan Castle and Nyla Greer block tied the game before Taylor Suurmeyer tallied four kills and Greer and Lauren Korth each added a pair as part of a 10-1 run, that included six straight Yogi Hang serves. Suurmeyer added two more kills to spark a 6-2 run to put MU ahead 10, 21-11, then ended the set with her eighth kill.

• Set Two

  • A pair of aces from Hang and a Suurmeyer kill got the Blue and Gold off to a blazing start and kills from LaBaere and Suurmeyer sandwiched a Jordan Dawson ace for the 6-1 advantage. Madonna was held to one service following a point once in the set and ended the game on a four-point run that saw Lauren Powers record back-to-back aces for the 25-11 win.

• Set Three

  • After an RC error to open the final set, the Crusaders saw Dawson serve five consecutive points, which included an ace and kills from three different Crusaders. Madonna scored six of the next seven to go up 12-2 as Powers added another ace and Korth tallied a kill. The Crusaders played a host of players in the final game and got contributions from Castle, Ryleigh Jacobs and Betsy Cook while Joella Griner delivered a pair of impressive kills, which included match point from the back row, for the sweep.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Madonna outhit Rochester .294 (48-13-119) to .044 (17-13-90) and tallied 10 aces, four blocks, 47 assists and 53 digs

• Suurmeyer led the offense with 14 kills and a .480 attack percentage while LaBaere added 10 kills and Greer tallied seven to go with a .462 mark.

• Korth terminated seven balls to go with 19 assists and four digs while Jordan Dawson added 14 assists and seven digs

• Alyssa Facione finished with 16 digs to lead the defense

MILESTONES TO WATCH

• Head Coach Jerry Abraham continues his pursuit of 1,200 career wins and needs just 10 more.

• Korth sits in seventh on the all-time assist list with 3,601; 338 shy of Jennie Wind (1998-01) for sixth.

JERRY'S WORLD

• "I thought we played really well as a team. Collectively we fired on all cylinders and got contributions from everyone. We played a very clean match and attacked the ball well from all parts of the net. Rochester played good defense and dug a lot of balls, but we kept the pressure on them and just had too much firepower." - Head Coach Jerry Abraham on the win

RING CEREMONY

• In between the second and third sets, the Crusaders honored the 2018 men's lacrosse program with championship rings commemorating the teams 22-1 season that saw them win the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles as well as finishing as the NAIA runner-up.

UP NEXT

• The Crusaders have a quick turnaround as UM-Dearborn visits the MU Activities Center tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 15 with first serve at 1 p.m.

• Live coverage will be available via the Madonna Athletics Network at www.mucrusaders.com/live.

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