INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian volleyball team completed their first weekend of the season undefeated Saturday afternoon, taking down Shawnee State and IU-East to finish their home tournament with a 4-0 record. Marian downed Shawnee in their first match in three sets, while using four sets to get a win over the Red Wolves.
Marian 3-0 Shawnee State
Marian made quick work in three sets to begin the day, opening up strong in the first set against Shawnee State with a 25-11 victory. Multiple Marian attackers helped the team build an early 8-2 lead, while a pair of points scored from Madison Brooks vaulted the lead to 11-4. A pair of three-error swings commited by the Bears helped Marian build a double-digit lead, and after a timeout Gabby Fish pushed Marian in front 23-10. A pair of errors ended the first set giving the Knights a 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set Marian rotated fresh bodies into the match, and got strong production from Maddie Ellis, as she picked up three kills and a solo block in the set. Skyler Van Note and Jai-Lyn Norwood added to the display of offense piling up kills and service aces in the set, while Marian's back row group of Emma Lyons and Sydney Schaffer put on a serving clinic to build a 20-10 lead. Katie Hardegree ended the set with her second kill of the day, closing a 25-16 win.
In the final set, Marian won 25-18, continuing to mix in more members of the bench. Avery Toole and Sarah Bennett helped take charge to give the Knights a 9-3 advantage, but the Bears showed fight drawing back within three points. Marian's attackers slowly built the lead back to six, and put their foot down getting kills from three different hitters to go on top 18-9. Shawnee and Marian would trade punches for the rest of the set, winning the match with a 25-18 result on a kill from Norwood.
Norwood led Marian in kills with nine in the match, while Van Note had seven. Averi Lanman and Fish each had five kills in the win. Gianna Feld led the back row with 17 digs, while Hardegree had 20 assists for a match-high.
Marian 3-1 IU-East
Taking on IU-East in a rematch of their first match on Friday, the Knights and Red Wolves played a more competitive match in Saturday's finale. The opening set began with a back and forth exchange as the set rocked back and forth to an 8-8 draw, while a 4-2 spurt from IU-East put the visitors in front for a brief lead. Marian rallied back with a 4-0 run of their own to force a timeout, and hit the 20-point threshold after getting a kill from Jaymison Summers. Van Note and Fish helped Marian end the first set victorious, landing kills in a 25-20 win.
Marian took a lead early in the second set, building a 6-1 lead on a Lyons service run. IU-East would rally back to get within a point and force coach Riley Anderson's first timeout of the season, and after the break Marian went on another run to grow a five-point lead. Another service ace from Lyons pushed Marian ahead 17-11, and two Fish kills made it a 20-14 lead. Brooks, Lanman, and Norwood helped put away the 25-16 win to take a 2-0 lead.
The match would extend to a fourth set after IU-East was able to knock off Marian 25-15 in the third, using a 5-0 run and a 7-0 run to take a commanding lead. After suffering their first set defeat of the season, Marian came back with a vengence taking a 4-1 lead through five rallies. IU-East would not back down though as they took a 7-6 lead, but the Knights continued to fight getting swings from Summers and Van Note to reclaim the lead. Van Note's kill at 14-12 started a 6-0 run, putting the home team in the driver's seat for the rest of the set. Summers put away the final point in the 25-17 win, ending the weekend with a 3-1 victory.
Van Note led the team in kills in the final match with an 11-kill, 13-dig double-double, while Norwood had 10 kills. Hardegree had a team-best 24 assists, while Ainsley Neighbors had 19 helpers and 10 digs to secure her first career double-double. Lyons had 11 digs while Feld led the team with 20, and Lanman led Marian with five block assists.
Marian will head west for their second set of games, traveling to Southern California to play in the St. Katherine Tournament.
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