Spring Arbor, Mich. - The Marian volleyball team fell in a four-set grind Wednesday night against (RV) Spring Arbor, taking the Cougars to extra points twice in the gut-wrenching 3-1 defeat. The loss is Marian's first in the second half of the league schedule, as they drop to 12-7 overall and 4-6 in the Crossroads League. 

The opening set of the night was a grind, as the Knights and Cougars clawed and scratched for points in a game that went to extra rallies. Spring Arbor won the first 10 rallies of the night as they built the first lead, but Marian responded strongly in the next handful of plays, riding kills from Chloe Cook and Sarah Bennett. The host Cougars stayed in front despite the pressure from the Knights, gradually building an 18-12 lead. Marian fought back with a 4-0 run and continued to fight, tying the set at 21 behind an Ava Tindall kill. Spring Arbor snapped Marian's comeback and reached set point, needing to stave off the fiery Knights four times as the set eventually ended in a home 29-27 win. 

Marian responded in set two, cashing in on early Cougar errors to capture a 6-3 edge. The lead would grow to four on a Mya Cunningham service ace, but the Cougars would not go down quietly, scoring four unanswered to take an 11-10 advantage. The game rocked back and forth with the Knights eventually seizing a hold of the set, building a 21-17 lead thanks to a 7-1 run. Cook, Bennett, and Khori Dryden carried the run, leading to the Knights pulling away with the 25-22 second set victory.

Exerting their energy in the second set, Marian was unable to hang with the Cougars in the third, as an early 4-1 deficit snowballed into a 25-18 defeat. The Knights would rebound and start the fourth set strong, scoring the first two points of the set as the game began with a flurry of point exchanges. Spring Arbor built its lead to four in the first 12 rallies, but Marian showed resilient fight, hammering away to inch within one. The Knights forced a tie at 14-14 as the set wore on, with a pair of Ava Tindall blocks fueling a 4-0 run. 

The Cougars and Knights each traded three-point runs after the 14-14 stalemate, seeing the game move to even at 17-17. The Cougars would capture a brief 20-18 lead, however, it would not be enough to deny the Knights, with Dryden scoring three kills and a block in a set-altering 5-0 run. The run pushed Marian to a 23-20 advantage, while three rallies later Dryden forced set point with a kill to take a 24-22 lead. Needing one point to win the set and force the tie-breaking set, the Knights were unable to hit around the Spring Arbor block, as the Cougars denied Marian twice in a 3-0 swing, jumping on top 25-24. Marian would answer the pressure three times as the Cougars held match point, but in the end, the Knights were unable to keep with the home team, falling 29-27 in set four to end the match.

Marian had three players in double-figure kills in the loss, with Sarah Bennett and Chloe Cook each recording a match-high 17 kills. Khori Dryden finished the night with a 16-kill, 25-dig double-double, and Emma Lyons had a team-high 26 digs. Emerson Evans logged 13 digs in the loss, while Lexa Zimmerman recorded 18. Cunningham led the team in assists with 24, scoring three kills and the Knights' lone ace in the loss. 

The Knights play on the road again this Saturday, traveling to Saint Francis for a 4:00 p.m. match with the Cougars.

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