ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Madonna Volleyball team left victorious in their first WHAC conference game of the season against Rochester University, coming away with a 3-1 margin of victory against the Warriors.  

HOW IT HAPPENED:  

 The Crusaders started the first set quickly taking a 7-1 lead early in the first set after scoring 7 straight points after being down 1-0. The Warriors would have no answer through the rest of the first set as the Crusaders would win the first set 25-11. 

Despite their loss in the first set, Rochester started the second set on a 3-0 run and got up to a 5-1 lead, looking to tie the match up at 1-1. The Warriors would continue to go back and forth with Madonna throughout the beginning of the second set keeping a two point lead on the Crusaders early on. Madonna would then take over after the Crusaders tied it up at 10-10 after going on a 6-2 run. The Crusaders were able to take the momentum with them and were up 18-12 before a big 6-0 run by the Warriors tied it up at 18-18. The game would go into a win by two situation as the game was tied at 24-24 at the end of the second set. Throughout all the back and forth through the best of two situation the big run proved successful as the Warriors would take the second set 29-27.

After dropping the second set, the Crusaders would come out strong in the third set going on a quick 6-2 run. The Warriors would continue to fight with the Crusaders as they would eventually make it a 10-8 game in set three. Despite the back and forth at the beginning of the set the Crusaders would go on a 6-1 run to take a 22-14 lead and would eventually win the set 25-17.

The fourth set would start with plenty of back and forth action as each team would exchange points through the first sixteen points of the set tied at eight apiece. This back and forth would continue through the duration of the 4th set being tied at 15 each at one point. Neither team could manage to take a commanding lead as the fourth set would go into a Crusader timeout tied at 21-21. The Crusaders would come out of the timeout going on a 3-0 run to make it 24-21. The Warriors would then call a timeout to try and slow down the Crusader offense and were able to make it 24-23. The Crusaders would call another timeout to stop the Warrior momentum and it would prove to be the deciding factor as the Crusaders would score the final point to make it 25-23 and win the match 3-1.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

• Kacie Stoneburner led the Crusaders in assists with 32 while also totaling 18 digs.  

• Jamie Ciacico led the team in digs with 21. 

• Jaeda Porter would lead the team in kills with 12.

UP NEXT:

The Crusaders will travel to Upland, Ind. this weekend as they head to the Taylor University tournament. The Crusaders will have two games on Friday against Trinity Christian College at 1:30 PM and Taylor University at 6:30 PM. The Crusaders will then play two games Saturday against Great Lakes Christian College at 9:00 AM and Indiana University East at 2:00 PM.