Fort Wayne, Ind. - The new era of Marian University volleyball got underway Friday with a strong outing at the ONSET Invitational hosted by the University of St. Francis, as the Knights earned a pair of wins to open the 2023 season. Marian pulled off a 3-0 sweep in their first match of the year against Wayland Baptist, while against IU-Northwest in the night cap as they picked up their second sweep of the day.
The win in match one was the first for head coach
Kallie Noble in her tenure at Marian, as the Knights begin the year with a 2-0 mark.
Game 1 | Marian 3-0 Wayland Baptist | 25-15, 25-18, 25-20
The Knights came out firing on all cylinders in their first match of the season, pulling ahead 9-4 early in the first set thanks to strong attacks from five different hitters.
Gabby Fish, who played her first match since September 21 of last season, was one of the catalysts for the Knights in the opening frame, as she racked up four kills and a block in the set. Marian's lead held steady at three points or more after building the quick lead, and a
Sarah Bennett kill helped reclaim the five-point lead at 16-11. With kills from Fish, Bennett, and
Khori Dryden pacing the final stretch, Marian scored nine of the final 13 rallies to take set one 25-15.
Gianna Feld helped Marian build the lead early in the second set, going on a service run following a kill from
Nicole Wilkinson, scoring two aces to help build a 7-2 lead. Wayland Baptist would gradually creep the difference on the scoreboard to two, but a
Madison Brooks kill sparked a rally, with Marian turning the 11-9 lead into an eight-point differential. Dryden exploded for three kills in the run to build the comfortable lead, as a kill from the sophomore Bennett would win the set 25-18 and grant the Knights a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the final set, Wayland came out aggressive with an early 6-1 lead, putting Marian behind in their largest deficit of the day. Fish helped the Knights right the ship and get back within a point, as the two sides began exchanging mirroring runs of one to three points. Trailing 16-13, the Knights finally bucked the trend, and were able to bring the set level once again with kills from Fish and Brooks. An attack error gifted the Knights their first lead of the set at 19-18, which Marian held onto tight, scoring six of the final eight rallies to seal the 25-20 victory, sweeping the match.
The Knights had five hitters with seven or more kills in the win, with Fish leading the way with 10.
Nicole Wilkinson hit .462 in the win as she had eight kills, and Brooks had nine kills.
Logan Smith led Marian's setters in the win with 24 assists, and in the back row
Emma Lyons recorded a team-best 12 digs.
Gianna Feld had 10 digs, and
Ainsley Neighbors recorded three digs to go with eight assists.
Game 2 | Marian 3-0 IU-Northwest | 25-8, 25-11, 25-11
After a rest in between matches, Marian was crisp in a one-sided sweep of IU-Northwest as they took their second win of the season. The Knights wasted no time early on by getting out to a 9-3 start after four straight kills, forcing the Red Hawks to call the timeout. IU-Northwest finally had an answer after the timeout, but it was
Mikayla Christiansen pounding one down to go ahead 10-4. Leading 16-8, Marian capped off their commanding 9-0 run by winning the first set, ending the game on a
Grace Hunter ace.
Much like the first set, Marian built an early lead after three straight kills from Fish to take the 9-2 advantage. Following a Red Hawks timeout, Christiansen picked things back up for the Knights to spark a 5-1 run that was capped off by an
Avery Toole kill on the assist from
Sami Luttel. IU-Northwest had an answer with four consecutive points to cut their deficit to 15-7. After a service error by IU-Northwest, the Knights soared through the rest of the second set with Hunter and Wilkinson registering a kill in the final points of the set. Marian rolled through set two, winning 25-11.
Errors plagued the IU-Northwest squad in set three as five straight gave Marian the early 10-4 lead, before Bennett, Christiansen, and
Emma Hirchak each added a kill to grow their lead to 14-4. A service error by the Knights ended the scoring drought for the Red Hawks, but Hirchak got Marian rolling again with her kill from Smith. A 4-0 run by the Knights forced IU-Northwest to call the timeout later in the set. After a quick regroup, the Red Hawks managed to rally three points to cut the score to 22-10. However, Marian's offense was too hot to handle as Dryden,
Maddie Ellis, and
Sydney Henke scored with a kill to end the set 25-11, sweeping their second match of the day.
Fish continued her tear as she led the way with 11 kills on 14 attacks (.786). Christiansen and Wilkinson had eight and six, while eight other players each recorded a kill or more. Smith dished out 18 assists in the win and Feld picked up team-best 18 digs to go along with one service ace.
Marian will be back in action on Saturday morning, taking on No. 7 Viterbo at 11 a.m., followed by a 3:30 p.m. match with Indiana Tech.
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