LIVONIA Mich. - The Madonna University volleyball team dominated the NAIA Opening Round National Championship contest early on Saturday afternoon, withstood a rally by Indiana University - South Bend and ultimately earned a seventh trip to the NAIA National Championships final site in the last eight season in a five set thriller. 

The Crusaders will advance to the pool play round at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa with a record of 25-12 while the Titans end their season 22-14. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Madonna led from start to finish in set one as the Blue and Gold scored two points for every Titans tally early, then, up 14-11, Madonna scored five of the next six points, led by three kills from Janelle Kwasiborski, to push the margin to seven, 19-12. The Titans countered with 3-of-4 before the Crusaders took set one with a 5-1 finish which included a pair of kills from Jodie Kelly who finished with career-highs in kills and attempts.
• IUSB, which traveled well from South Bend, Indiana, jumped out to an early 5-3 lead in game two, but the Crusaders quickly responded with a 9-1 run to take a 12-6 lead. Kwasiborski again led the way in the rally as she tallied a pair of kills and a block assist while Erica LaBaere added a kill and two blocks. The Titans cut the margin to three on multiple occasions with the last coming at 23-20 before a pair of Kelly kills put MU one set away from a trip to the final site.
• It was a tale of runs again in set three as MU scored five straight to stretch an 8-7 lead to six points thanks to a pair of kills from Tauri Hintz, one each from LaBaere and Betsy Cook and a Karolina Noszczyk service ace. An 11-2 rally by the visitors put Madonna down three, 19-16. MU fought back to tie the set at 21 and 22 than a Kelly kill and a Titans error gave MU match point, but the Titans won the final three points for the 26-24 win.
• Down 10-8 in the fourth game, the Crusaders scored 10-of-13 points to take an 18-13 lead, but the Titans won 12 of the final 16 points for the 25-22 win.
• It was an intense winner-take-all fifth set that saw 13 ties in the first to 15 set. The Titans seemed to gain some momentum with a pair of points to take a 12-10 lead, but a Hintz kill and a block by Hintz and LaBaere tied the set at 12 and Madonna won six of the final eight points, capped, fittingly, by a Kelly kill for the match win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• 32/83: Kelly finished with a career-high 32 kills and tied her sister Karlie Kelly for the single-match program record for attempts with 83.
• 10+: LaBaere finished with 13 kills and hit .313 while Hintz and Kwasiborski each had 12 kills and hit over .300
• 66: Cook tallied 66 assists in the win, five shy of the match record of 71
• 20/19/17: Kelly led the defense with 20 digs while Olivia Sweeney added 19 and Jamie Ciacico had 17 digs
• 17: Madonna tallied 17 block assists in the match led by LaBaere's five while Hintz added four and DJ Sargent and Kwasiborski each tallied three

CRUSADER VISION


UP NEXT

• The Blue and Gold return to a familiar site as they will travel to Sioux City, Iowa for the NAIA National Championships Pool Play which begins on Tuesday, Dec. 3 with a time and opponent to be announced. The matches will be played inside the Tyson Events Center and this will be the 18th time the Crusaders have appeared at the final site.
• The NAIA Network – the association's official video-streaming home – will broadcast all matches excluding the semifinals and championship matches live at the 2019 NAIA Volleyball National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single-day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while a pool play pass is $24.95 (Dec. 3-5) and a championship package is available at $39.95. You can also buy an All-Championship pass and watch every championship streamed on the NAIA Network in 2019.

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