INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian volleyball team put up a fight until the final rally Friday night, but came up short as they fell in four sets on their home floor against No. 15 Mount Vernon Nazarene. Marian's loss drops their season record to 17-6 overall, while sliding back to 8-5 in the Crossroads League.

Mount Vernon led for much of the early stages of the first set, grabbing a 9-6 lead as the match got underway. The Cougars lead would grow as high as six, but a block and kill from Sarah Bennett helped Marian close the gap. Mount Vernon held a 19-13 lead after back to back kills from Lyssi Snouffer, but allowed Marian to inch back within three as Gabby Fish and Emma Hirchak aided the Marian offense. Fish's kill saw the score show a three-point 22-19 deficit, but the Knights were unable to keep chipping away, giving up three unanswered points to fall 25-19.

In the second set, Marian responded by building an early 7-3 advantage. Mount Vernon called for timeout after committing their fifth consecutive error, and slowly crawled back within two of the Knights. Emerson Evans helped push Marian back on top by five as her service ace gave the team a 13-8 lead, with the score slowly shifting ahead to 19-14 after timely plays from Nicole Wilkinson and Madison Brooks. Khori Dryden helped push the Knights to set point, while a Cougar service error ended the game for Marian, giving them a 25-21 win.

The back and forth tendency continued in the third set, as both teams exchanged runs that saw the score inflate to 10-10. Wilkinson and Dryden were catalysts for Marian in the early stages, while Gabby Fish gave her team a 12-10 lead after scoring two kills off Emerson Evans sets. Mount Vernon eventually regained the lead at 18-17, and began to exchange points with Marian, keeping the edge as the score slowly moved to a 22-22 tie. After Wilkinson tied the set, the Cougars found a groove, winning three of the final four rallies to win 25-23 and take a one-set advantage.

The Knights responded in the fourth set by winning the first three points, but saw their lead evaporate as the Cougars scored four unanswered. The Cougars would win the race to 10 points as they claimed a 10-8 edge, but were unable to keep the Knights down as Logan Smith served a 3-0 rally that brought the set back to an even 12-12 score. Mount Vernon would reclaim the advantage as they took a 20-16 lead, but failed to hold on to their edge as a late 5-0 run for Marian tied the set at 23-23. Mikayla Christiansen paced the run with three kills, but as she went for a fourth in the series she was blocked by the Cougars, forcing match point. Mt. Vernon and Marian traded blows as the Cougars moved on top 25-24, winning the set on the next rally on an attack error. The 26-24 fourth set sealed the Cougars 3-1 win over Marian.

For the match, Marian had a higher hitting percentage than Mount Vernon by seven points, while also out-blocking the Cougars 12-9. Christiansen finished the match with a team-high 14 kills, while Gabby Fish had 11 and Nicole Wilkinson had 10. Logan Smith recorded 24 assists to lead the team, while Emerson Evans had 21. Smith and Christiansen would both finish with double-doubles as the setter had 20 digs and the hitter had 14, trailing match-leader Emma Lyons who recorded 32 digs. Wilkinson finished the night with eight total blocks, while Madison Brooks had seven total rejections.

Marian will look to get back on track on Wednesday, October 23, as they travel to Huntington to start a three-match road trip.

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