Mount Vernon, Ohio - The Marian volleyball team put up a fight Wednesday night in the Crossroads League Tournament Semifinals against No. 20 Mount Vernon Nazarene, but were unable to close after leading 2-1 as the Cougars rallied back for a five-set win. Marian ends their run in the tournament with a 20-10 overall record.

A pair of runs highlighted the early stages of the opening set, as Mount Vernon took the first major lead with a 8-4 advantage following five unanswered points, while the Knights were able to respond with 4-1 spurt of their own. The Cougars would push ahead again thanks to a 5-1 run, as they claimed the largest lead for either team in the set with a 16-11 advantage. Logan Smith, Mikayla Christiansen and Averi Lanman helped the Knights fight back after falling behind 19-15, eventually climbing back within a point on three different occasions, however they were unable to close as they fell 25-22 in set one.

Marian responded well in sets two and three, winning both games to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Marian dominated early in the second set as Gabby Fish and Khori Dryden landed kills, as they pushed in front 10-3. The Cougars scratched back with a pair of 3-0 runs to make things less comfortable, but a service error shortly after a Marian timeout gave the Knights a 16-12 advantage, which they used to jump on top 20-14. Mount Vernon would inch closer as they were able to get within a pair, but Marian capitalized on a service error, scoring three of the final four points as the freshman Dryden ended the 25-20 second set.

The third set featured the largest point differential of the match, as Marian breezed to a 25-16 win. Errors and Madison Brooks kills headlined Marian's ability to take an early lead, and after briefly giving the home team an edge, pushed through with Fish and Christiansen providing a 12-9 score. The Cougars managed to get within a point twice, but couldn't close the gap as a finishing 7-1 run led by five Dryden kills gave Marian their 2-1 match lead.

The Knights looked to close the match in four sets as they battled to open the fourth set, but found themselves trailing by four as the Cougars used a 4-1 run to claim a 12-8 lead. A timeout froze the Cougars and allowed Marian to get back into system as inched within two, building steam as a 5-0 paced by four MVNU errors provided a 19-17 lead. Despite the lead and being six points away from a win, Marian failed to finish off the Cougars, as four consecutive errors gave the hosts a 21-19 lead. Mount Vernon finished the fourth set on an 8-1 run, leveling the match at two sets each with their 25-20 win.

Marian jumped first in the winner-take-all fifth set, growing a 6-3 lead behind four Dryden kills and a dump kill from Logan Smith. The Cougars used a timeout to halt the Marian momentum, as they scored four of five points to bring the set even. Marian led 8-7 as they switched sides of the net behind a Christiansen kill, but again found themselves trailing as two Cougar kills showed 9-8 on the board. Marian dug deep once again as Christiansen and Brooks scored three unanswered points, with a service error on the fifth rally in the sprint giving the visitors a 12-10 lead. Mt. Vernon would rally off three consecutive points to force a Marian timeout, but the Knights scored a block out of the timeout to even the score 13-13. With both teams sitting two points away from the championship match, the Cougars struck first with a block on Dryden, and won the match on the ensuing rally as Logan Smith was called for a ball-handling violation, ending the night in a 15-13 fifth set defeat.

As a team Marian led the match in kills, digs, assists, and hitting percentage, but blocks from the Cougars and untimely errors led to the Mount Vernon victory. Dryden led Marian individually with a career-high 19 kills, while Brooks scored 11 kills with a .310 hitting percentage. Logan Smith and Ainsley Neighbors each recorded a double-double of 10 digs, as Smith finished with 23 assists and Neighbors with 25. Smith has now recorded a double-double in five consecutive matches and 14 times this season.

Emma Lyons led the defense with 26 digs and one service ace, while Sydney Schaffer had 14 digs and Christiansen had 11. Christiansen also finished with nine kills. Averi Lanman led the Knights with five block assists.

Marian will await to find out their NAIA Tournament fate, as they will aim to be an at-large team. The NAIA Selection Show will air on Monday, November 13 at 3 p.m. on the NAIA YouTube channel. 

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