INDIANAPOLIS – The Marian volleyball team continued their win streak at home with the season sweep of Mount Vernon Nazarene and defeated the Cougars 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-13) Wednesday night, improving to 9-0 inside the PE Center thus far this season. The Knights improve to 9-2 in Crossroads League play and 17-2 overall.
In the first set, Marian and Mt. Vernon Nazarene went back and forth for the first eight points before a 5-0 run by the Knights would give them the 9-4 lead behind two Sydney Schaffer aces that would force a Cougar timeout. MVNU was able to gain a bit of momentum after cutting the Knight's lead down to 12-9. Jaymison Summers answered back with a pair of kills to shift the offense back to their side of the net. Not long after, Madison Brooks and Grace Hunter each added two kills to pace the Knight's offense and give them the 25-15 win in set one.
The second set proved to be a battle as Marian saw themselves down 2-8 after an 8-1 spurt from the Cougars. The Knights were able to claw back after Skyler Van Note got things going again by responding with a pair of kills that would spark an 8-2 run that also saw several errors from the Cougars and a kill by Gianna Feld and Jai-Lyn Norwood. An Avery Toole kill gave Marian their first lead since their first point of the set, but MVNU came back with a couple kills of their own to take the 12-11 lead. The two teams continued to trade points the remainder of the set until a Norwood and Van Note kill surged the final points of the set.
Marian put together a dominant performance in set three after getting out to an early 10-3 lead, led by three Van Note kills. Katie Hardegree also got in on the action adding an ace, before Brooks added two kills. MVNU responded with a kill, but Summers and Brooks combined for three kills to fuel another Marian offensive attack. The Cougars struggled to get any sort of offense going, as the Knights continued to add to their lead and polish off their sweep with a 25-13 victory in set three.
Van Note paved the way for the Knights with 17 kills and eight digs, while Norwood added 10 kills and two blocks. Brooks had third highest kills on the team with seven while also picking up four digs and two blocks. Summers posted five kills and three blocks, with Hunter and Toole each chipping in three kills. Hardegree and Logan Smith both did work by dishing out 21 and 18 assists a piece. On the defensive end, Feld led the way with 12 digs and Emma Lyons added 10.
No. 17 Marian is back in action next Wednesday, October 12, when the Knights travel to take on Huntington at 7:00 PM.
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