PALOS HEIGHTS, ILL. - Madonna volleyball (7-11, 2-6 WHAC) traveled to the Trolls Invitational at Trinity Christian University for four games with two on Friday and two on Saturday. On Friday the Crusaders split the first two games on Friday, sweeping the host Trinity Christian 3-0 in their first contest. In game two the Crusaders would fall to William Woods University in a 3-1 defeat. On Saturday the Crusaders would leave 2-0, first taking down St. Francis (Ill.) 3-0 and then finishing with Stephens College (Mo.) with a 3-1 final. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Friday:
In game one, the Crusaders took down the Trolls quickly with a 3-0 sweep with final scores of 25-14, 25-19, and 25-16. The Crusaders were led by Hannah Keenan who finished with 10 kills and a .263 hitting percentage. Freshman Stella Hetzel also saw lots of action in her second appearance of the year finishing with the second most kills with seven and a .211 hitting percentage. Defensively, Karlee Stoll led the team in digs with nine closely followed by Madalena Arriaga with eight.  

In game two, the Crusaders were swept by William Woods University with final scores of 17-25, 22-25, and 18-25. The Crusaders struggled offensively in game two hitting a combined .036 as a team. Kem Donnelly led the team with 16 digs which is her third highest total this season. Katie Mulka would finish the game with three solo blocks bringing her season total to 37.

Saturday:
In the first game on Saturday, the Crusaders were able to get back on track sweeping St. Francis with final scores of 26-24, 25-23, 25-20. Keenan finished with another strong performance leading the team with 12 kills and a .296 hitting percentage. Donnelly also repeated her performance from game two finishing with 16 digs once again while Karlee Stoll finished with 30 assists.

Game four was again controlled by the Crusaders where they took down Stephens College in four sets with final scores of 25-16, 22-25, 25-22, and 25-14. Evan Hughes caught fire this game leading the Crusaders with kills with 16 and a .382 hitting percentage. Kira Buza also had a strong performance with 12 kills and a .375 hitting percentage. Defensively, Donnelly again finished with 16 digs which was tied with Arriaga who also finished with 16 digs. 


UP NEXT:

Madonna will be back in action Wednesday, October 9th for a tough home matchup against the No. 12 Aquinas Saints. The match is set to start at 7:00 PM. 


CONNECT WITH THE CRUSADERS: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
SUBSCRIBE/DOWNLOAD TEAM SCHEDULES: Download Center
DOWNLOAD THE NEW MOBILE APP: Google Play | iOS