DEARBORN, Mich. - Madonna responded to a narrow second-set loss with two decisive frames, defeating UM-Dearborn 3-1 on Sept. 10 at The Fieldhouse. The Crusaders won 25-21, 23-25, 25-13, 25-20 to improve to 3-8, while the Wolverines fell to 1-13.
Madonna opened the match with an efficient attacking performance. The Crusaders recorded eight kills with only one attack error, hitting .304 on the way to a 25-21 victory.
UM-Dearborn answered in the second set, which included eight ties and four lead changes. Madonna committed 11 attack errors and hit .024 in the frame, allowing the Wolverines to even the match with a 25-23 win.
The Crusaders quickly regained control in the third set. Madonna produced 11 kills against two attack errors for a match-best .429 hitting percentage, rolling to a 25-13 victory and a 2-1 match lead. The turnaround restored the efficiency Madonna had shown in the opening set while its defense continued to pressure UM-Dearborn's attack.
Sydney Stonerock led Madonna with 12 kills and a .320 hitting percentage, adding three block assists and one service ace for 14.5 points. Kem Donnelly supplied 11 kills, 10 digs and an ace for a double-double. Hope Schriber finished with seven kills and seven block assists, while Alyviah Wright had six kills, hit .400 and contributed one solo block and one block assist.
Rylie Glass directed the offense with 24 assists and added nine digs. Addison Boven recorded 12 assists and eight digs, and Lexa Forti finished with five assists, eight digs and two of Madonna's seven service aces. The Crusaders totaled 47 kills, 45 assists, 51 digs and nine blocks while hitting .233 for the match.
UM-Dearborn received 11 kills and 11 digs from Monti Rotter, while Nikki Fedewa had 10 kills, three aces and four block assists. Madonna held the Wolverines to a .072 hitting percentage as UM-Dearborn committed 32 attack errors. The Crusaders closed the match with their highest kill total of any set, putting down 16 while hitting .324 in the 25-20 fourth-set victory.
With the win the Crusaders move to 4-8 on the season and 1-2 in WHAC play. Madonna will travel to Fort Wayne, Indiana next to take on the Warriors of Indiana Tech for a 7:00 PM start at the Schaefer Center.
