LIVONIA, Mich. – The 19th-ranked Madonna University volleyball team rebounded from their first loss of the season with a pair of victories on day two of the 18th annual Julie Martin Memorial Classic at the MU Activities Center on Saturday afternoon. The Crusaders took the first match in straight sets against Olivet Nazarene University (26-24, 25-22, 25-23) and ground out a five set victory (27-25, 23-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13) over Windsor in the nightcap.

MATCH ONE: No. 19 Madonna (8-1) 3, Olivet Nazarene (4-8) 0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-23)

• Set one

  • The Crusaders and Tigers battled back and forth before a 7-1 run by ONU put them ahead 18-12. With momentum shifting away from the Blue and Gold, kills from Jodie Kelly and Lauren Korth, as well as a couple of errors by the Tigers, put MU back within one. Back and forth action gave ONU a 24-22 lead before a Nyla Greer kill and an attacking error knotted it back at 24-24. Erica LaBaere finished the game with consecutive kills for the 1-0 lead.

• Set Two

  • Set two offered similar action to the first with seven lead changes, while the combination of LaBaere, Kelly and Taylor Suurmeyer played a big part in taking the set with 12 combined kills and a couple of blocks. The Crusaders jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, although, just like every lead in the set, it did not last long. The Blue and Gold captured their largest lead of the set at 18-14, only to have the Tigers tie it back at 22-22 before three consecutive attacking errors gave the Crusaders the win.

• Set Three

  • The final game did not see a score separation above three points from either team. The Tigers found themselves ahead 9-7 before three attacking errors and a kill by Greer catapulted the Crusaders ahead 11-9. MU once again proved their clutch play late in sets as they outscored ONU 6-4 in the final 10 points, highlighted by two kills from LaBaere, to take the match with a 25-23 win.

MATCH TWO: No. 19 Madonna (9-1) 3, Windsor (2-2) 2 (27-25, 23-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13)

• Set one

  • Much like the first match for the Crusaders, there was no shortage of lead changes in the first set that ended in favor of the Blue and Gold 27-25. As the two teams swapped momentum, it came down to clutch performances late in the set that earned MU the comeback victory. Kills from Suurmeyer and LaBaere kept the Crusaders hope alive along with a little help from an attack error that gave them a 26-25 lead, when Lauren Korth collected the final kill for the win.

• Set Two

  • As was the case most of the weekend, the Crusaders fell into an early hole and trailed by as many as nine (20-11), but an 8-1 run that featured two aces and kills from LaBaere and Ryan Castle, cut the deficit to two, 21-19. After trading side outs and tying the set at 23, a Lancers kill and an MU error gave the Ontario, Canada school the set win.

• Set Three

  • The third set featured eight ties as the Crusader won the first three points before the teams traded runs. Madonna finally wrestled control of the match as they scored five of the final eight points to take the 2-1 match lead.

• Set Four

  • Four ties early saw the two evenly matched teams trade sideouts before Windsor took control. A 5-0 run at 6-4 gave the visitors the 9-6 lead they never relinquished. The Lancers scored the final three points to even the match.

• Set Five

  • The Blue and Gold scored eight of the first 13 points before the fifth-set switch. Windsor took five of the next six points to take a 10-9 lead, but the Crusaders took advantage of a timeout and scored five of the next six points for the 14-11 advantage. A pair of Greer kills and one each from Kelly and LaBaere highlighted the run. The Lancers scored twice to force another timeout, but Madonna answered the bell again as Greer terminated the final point to secure a 9-1 start to 2018.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• MATCH ONE

  • Madonna hit .207 (49-19-145) in the match while the defense held ONU to a .088 (34-22-136) mark.

  • The Crusaders tallied 74 digs, five blocks and two aces while ONU had 62, six and eight, respectively.

  • Kelly finished with a double-double, 13 kills and 17 digs, both team highs. She also hit a team-best .379.

  • LaBaere added 10 kills ana team-best three blocks while Korth netted 32 assists and added 13 digs

• MATCH TWO

  • For the first time this season the Blue and Gold won a match when being outhit as Windsor hit .271 (69-23-170) while MU hit just .187 (61-29-171).

  • Madonna had more aces (8-7) and blocks (9-8) while both teams tallied 61 digs.

  • Kelly netted another double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs while LaBaere matched her 13 digs and added four blocks.

  • Korth hit a team-high .438 with eight kills, 38 assists three blocks and seven digs.

  • Greer added 12 kills and four blocks while Suurmeyer also had 12 kills to go with three blocks.

  • Alyssa Facione led the defense with 21 digs and had five aces

MILESTONES TO WATCH

• Head Coach Jerry Abraham continues his pursuit of 1,200 career wins and needs just 11 more.

• With 3,582 assists, Korth past Deanne Helsom (3,517; 1996-98) for seventh on the all-time career list.

JERRY'S WORLD

• "We won two matches against a pair of really tough teams, so I'm happy about that. Nothing was easy all weekend. We seemed to get down in about every set, but the to girls credit they persevered and fought back each time - they responded under pressure. There are things we need to correct; getting faster in transition and blocking better, but the defense played really well all weekend long and offensively, we scored when we needed to, but seemed to let teams back in by not being as aggressive as needed." - Head Coach Jerry Abraham on the win and the weekend

UP NEXT

• The Crusaders hit the road as they return to Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play against Cornerstone University on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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