INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian volleyball team picked up their 20th win of the season Saturday night, taking down Spring Arbor for the third time this season in the Crossroads League Tournament Quarterfinals. Marian's four-set victory gives the Knights a 20-9 overall record on the year, as they advance to the tournament semifinals.

For much of the first three sets on Saturday night, Spring Arbor challenged Marian, never allowing the Knights to take a commanding lead. Marian fell behind by as many as three in the first set, and after calling for timeout trailing 14-11 woke up with a Madison Brooks kill, as the junior and Averi Lanman helped ignite a 5-0 run. Marian led 16-14 after the run, but were unable to fully separate themselves from the Cougars, as they propelled back into the lead at 21-19. A block would help Marian take the lead and start a back and forth trend as neither side was able to take set point. After four set points, a Mikayla Christiansen kill brought the set to 26-26, while consecutive Spring Arbor errors gave the Knights the 28-26 win.

The second set had a similar feeling as Marian was unable to gain more than a four-point lead on Spring Arbor in the first 24 rallies, as they held a contested 13-9 lead. Spring Arbor would use a 7-1 run after the 24th rally, taking a 16-14 lead to temporarily turn the momentum. Marian held their water and prevented the lead from growing past three points, and later used a 4-0 run paced by Christiansen, Gianna Feld, and Nicole Wilkinson to take a 20-19 lead. The Knights closed strong after scoring the 20th point, scoring five of the final seven points to win the set 25-21.

Marian was poised the win the match in three sets and did so by building a 13-7 lead through 20 rallies, using a six point run fueled by Cougar errors to take control. Spring Arbor would call for timeout and locked back in, inching back within a pair of the home lead. A service ace from Emma Lyons helped Marian gain separation as the lead pushed back to five, and another three point surge gave the Knights a 21-14 lead, but Spring Arbor kept fighting. The Cougars scored five unanswered to get within two, and after a Christiansen kill dropped three more to tie the set at 22-22. The junior transfer for Marian nailed two more kills to get Marian to set point, but the Knights were unable to finish, allowing a 4-0 run to lose the third set 26-24. 

After falling in the third set, Marian turned it up a notch in the fourth, working through a slow start to build a 5-0 run that gave them a 12-6 lead. Christiansen, Wilkinson, and Brooks were instrumental in the run, and later another 5-0 sprint paced by Khori Dryden gave Marian a double-digit lead with the score showing 19-9. The Cougars would chip back within seven of Marian, but the Knights held strong, ending the run and scoring the final four points to win the match with a 25-14 fourth set win.

The Knights' offense was led by Mikayla Christiansen, who posted 16 kills and 11 digs to record a double-double. Madison Brooks and Khori Dryden each had 12 kills, while Brooks had five block assists. Nicole Wilkinson finished with five kills, leading the team with seven block assists. Logan Smith and Ainsley Neighbors both had double-doubles from their setter positions, with Smith posting 26 assists and 14 digs, while Neighbors had 22 assists and 10 digs.

Emma Lyons dominated in the back row for Marian and led all players with 35 digs, missing a chance to break her single match record by four. Lexa Zimmerman had a season-best 10 digs in the win.

Marian will travel to No. 23 Mt Vernon Nazarene on Wednesday night, taking on the Cougars at 7 p.m. 

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