LIVONIA, Mich. – The 19th-ranked Madonna University volleyball team kicked off the 18th annual Julie Martin Memorial Classic with a dominant win over Rochester College, 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-18). The Crusaders nearly made it a perfect day with a near historic comeback against No. 24 Bellevue University, but fell short in the five set loss (25-15, 25-9, 22-25, 25-27, 15-9).
MATCH ONE: No. 19 Madonna (7-0) 3, Rochester (1-8) 0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-18)
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Set One
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The Crusaders and Warriors were close early in the first game, until a kill by Jodie Kelly broke the team free. Lauren Powers kept the momentum alive for the Blue and Gold with three straight serves that resulted in MU points. The Crusaders relentlessly attacked the Warriors with a pair of kills from Kelly, another service ace from Powers and a block by Nyla Greer en route to the 25-14 win.
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Set Two
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Despite a slow start to the second set for the Crusaders, they relied on their power to pull away from the Warriors. The Blue and Gold took advantage of costly errors by the Rochester which allowed them to jump ahead 20-14. As the Crusaders continued to pull away, Yogi Hang contributed with a huge service ace that put the Crusaders ahead two sets to none.
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Set Three
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An early 10-2 lead for MU came as a result of big blocks by Erica LaBaere and Kelly that energized the team. The Blue and Gold featured kills from Jordan Dawson, LaBaere and Ryan Castle as the Crusaders proved worthy of their ranking and continued on to win the third and final set by a score of 25-18.
MATCH TWO: No. 24 Bellevue (7-3) 3, No. 19 Madonna (7-1) 2 (25-15, 25-9, 22-25, 27-25, 15-9)
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Set One
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In their toughest match of the year, the Crusaders got off to a slow start as they trailed early and, after five ties, the Bruins used a five-point run to turn an 11-11 contest into an 18-12 game. MU just couldn't find an offensive rhythm despite solid defensive play. Bellevue closed the match on a four point run for the 25-15 win.
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Set Three
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The Crusaders showed their grit and determination in the third set as they kept the set close in the early going before Olivia Sweeney's service run put the Blue and Gold in control. Down 18-16, an attack error gave MU the service and a pair of Lauren Korth kills helped push MU to a 22-18 lead. Bellevue made a late run, but the Crusaders were able to close the 25-22 win on a pair of Greer kills.
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Set Four
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With a little momentum on their side, the Crusaders took and held and early lead in set four, but a five-point BU run turned a 10-8 lead into a 13-10 deficit. The Bruins led by as many as four points in the set and even had a 24-21 lead, but MU scored six of the final seven points, three on Erica LaBaere terminations, to earn the 27-25 win.
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Set Five
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Madonna did what you can't do in the fifth set and gave the Bruins a 5-1 lead early. The Blue and Gold cut the deficit to one, 6-5, but BU countered with a pair of points and used a four-point run with the game at 9-7 to take control en route to the match win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
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MATCH ONE
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While Madonna hit .293 (44-15-99) in the match, the defense held Rochester to a .000 (19-19-91) attack percentage
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The Blue and Gold collected eight aces,five blocks, 43 assists and 45 digs in the win
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Kelly finished with 11 kills and hit .417 for the match
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LaBaere also finished with 11 kills and hit .348 while Korth posted a team-high 21 assists
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Betsy Cook added 15 assists while Alyssa Facione tallied a team-high 17 digs
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MATCH TWO
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Madonna was outhit for the first time this season as the Bruins hit .272 (70-20-184) while MU finished at .092 (51-34-185)
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The Crusaders added a pair of aces, six blocks and 77 digs while BU won each category
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LaBaere tallied a team-high 15 kills, Greer added 11 and Korth hit a team-best .231 with 33 assists and nine digs
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Facione posted 20 digs in the match while three others, Kelly (11), Olivia Sweeney (10) and Amber Kelly (14), also had double-figures.
MILESTONES TO WATCH
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Head Coach Jerry Abraham continues his pursuit of 1,200 career wins and needs just 13 more.
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Korth (3,512) sits just five assists shy of Deanne Helsom (3,517; 1996-98) for seventh on the all-time career list.
JERRY'S WORLD
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"Overall I thought it was a good day, but I was a little disappointed with the way we started the second set. We didn't get into any kind of a groove and didn't make proper adjustments. Bellevue did what they needed to do against us. They controlled the net, attacked the ball consistently and dug everything we hit. It took us until the third game to make the necessary adjustments and we were able to create some problems for them. We forced the game five and they were able to take the 5-1 lead early and that's hard to get out of. We need to learn from this - they were a big, talented team and one that we almost pulled out. This should help us at a competitive level moving forward. " - Head Coach Jerry Abraham on the loss
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"This tournament gives us a chance to see some very talented teams that will prepare us for a tough conference and hopefully help us down the road. This is a young team with several players learning new positions. I'm excited for the direction we are headed." Abraham on his team's outlook
UP NEXT
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The Crusaders wrap up play in the Julie Martin Memorial Classic on Saturday morning as they host Olivet Nazarene at 10 a.m. before facing University of Windsor at 2 p.m. Complete tournament results,l game times, court assignments and more are available at www.mucrusaders.com/JMClassic.
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Live coverage of all contests will be available at www.mucrusaders.com/live.
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To learn more about Julie Martin and the Julie Martin Scholarship visit www.mucrusaders.com/JulieMartin.
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