LIMA, Ohio - In a battle of top four teams in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, the Madonna University volleyball team came away with a big five-set win over the University of Northwestern Ohio inside The Garage on Friday night. 

The Crusaders move to 21-7 on the year and 13-2 in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play while the Racers slide to 20-9 overall and 10-5 in league action.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• In the first set, the Crusaders led early, 4-2, and the match was close until they trailed 16-14 and the Racers closed the match on a 9-0 run to take the opening game 25-14.
• The Blue and Gold bounced back in game two as they opened the set on a 7-2 run on a pair of Jodie Kelly kills, a block assist by Janelle Kwasiborski and DJ Sargent and a service ace by Jordyn Dawson. Eight of the next 12 points went to the home team to cut the lead to one. Kills from Kwasiborski, Erica LaBaere and a service ace from Ryan Castle pushed the margin back to four, 15-11, and the Crusaders never looked back en route to a 25-17 victory.
• Seven ties highlighted the third set, the last coming at 11 as a Dawson kill sparked a 6-0 run that included a pair of Kelly kills, another from Kwasiborski and a Sargent, Kwasiborski block assist. Despite being outscored 9-8 the rest of the way, MU took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-20 win.
• With momentum on their side, the Crusaders opened the fourth set with nine straight points thanks to five errors by the home team, a kill, and block from LaBaere, a kill from Kelly and an ace from Castle. MU maintained a seven-point margin until UNOH used a 12-2 run to go-ahead 17-14. Madonna was able to tie the score at 19 but the home team captured six of the final eight points to even the match at two, 25-21.
• The teams battled back and forth in the final set that featured five ties and three match points. It was the home team that turned a 13-12 deficit into a 14-13 lead and the first match point. The Crusaders countered with a LaBaere kill, but an error on MU gave the Racers another match point. Again it was LaBaere who terminated the point to tie the score at 15 before back-to-back Kelly kills sealed the five set win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• 23: The Crusaders, who have not missed a WHAC tournament since joining the conference in 1997, clinched a spot in the event for the 23rd straight season
• .241-.213: Madonna outhit UNOH .241 (63-24-162) to .213 (54-21-155) and is now 17-3 against the Racers all-time
• .444: Sargent tallied double-digit kills for the second straight match and hit a team-high .444 with 10 kills
• 24/13: Kelly added to her impressive season with a match-best 24 kills and 13 digs with a .328 attack percentage
• 11: Kwasiborski had one of her best all-around games as she collected 11 kills, hit .33 and had a career-high five blocks
• 51: Dawson tallied 51 assists on the night, her fourth 50-plus set match of the year
• 5: Five players, including Kelly, collected double-digit digs, led by Olivia Sweeney's 16. Katie Engelhardt added 12 while Jacobs finished with 11 and Dawson added 10.

JERRY'S WORLD

• "Great match tonight, the girls played big-time in the clutch in a loud, hostile environment. Jodie had a great match kill win it and Ryleigh Jacobs had a tremendous defensive match. I'm very proud of the girls for holding off two match points and pulling out the win." - Head Coach Jerry Abraham

UP NEXT

• Madonna will continue its pursuit of a home WHAC tournament contest and a possible conference title on Saturday, Nov. 26 as they travel to Fort Wayne, Indiana to face Indiana Tech with first serve at 1 p.m. 
• Live coverage links are available at www.mucrusaders.com. 

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