Fort Wayne, Ind. —- The Marian University volleyball team avenged an early-season loss to Saint Francis (Ind.), defeating the Cougars on the road to move to 7-6 in Crossroads League play.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Marian held a 52-49 edge in kills
- The Cougars recorded eight of 15 aces in the match
- USF had eight blocks in the match to Marian's five
- Saint Francis held a slim 50-48 edge in digs
- The Knights hit .301, while USF hit .208
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Chloe Cook tallied a team-high 18 kills on a .447 hitting percentage
- Khori Dryden added 15 kills
- Mya Cunningham and Sami Luttel combined for 40 assists and five aces
- Danielle Schade led the team with three blocks
- Lexa Zimmerman tallied 15 digs and seven assists
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST SET
- Kills from Schade and Cook along with an ace from Evie Dart made up part of a five-point Marian run to take a 10-6 lead and force a Saint Francis timeout
- The Knights took a timeout when USF tied the frame at 18
- The Cougars led 23-22, but the Knights took three straight points to swing the opening set in their favor, capped by another Dart ace
SECOND SET
- USF took a 6-2 lead early in the second set
- Marian called timeout after the Cougar lead grew to 11-6
- The Knights cut the difference to three, but Saint Francis responded with seven unanswered points to take a commanding 22-11 lead in the frame
- USF tied the match at a set apiece after Kayla Gumbel's kill
THIRD SET
- Three errors and a Cook kill allowed MU to lead 8-4, forcing an early USF timeout
- The difference remained between three and four until Schade's kill, Cunningham's ace and kills from Ava Tindall and Ashlynn Turner made it a 21-14 Marian lead
- Dryden's kill clinched the set for the Knights
FOURTH SET
- Luttel's ace capped a three-point run for Marian to lead 5-2 early in the fourth
- USF chipped away at the lead, tying the frame at 16
- Turner, Tindall and Cunningham came up big again late in the set, combining for three kills and two aces to take a 22-18 lead
- Tindall closed the match with a kill off a Cunningham feed
UP NEXT
- Marian travels to 13th-ranked Grace on Wednesday; first serve is set for 7 p.m.
