Indianapolis —- The Marian University volleyball team fell to Mount Vernon Nazarene in a matchup of teams tied in the Crossroads League standings heading into the showdown on Wednesday night at the P.E. Center.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Mount Vernon Nazarene had 60 kills to Marian's 57
- The Cougars had eight of the 12 aces in the match
- The Knights registered seven blocks to MVNU's five
- Mount Vernon Nazarene held the edge in digs, 74-72
- MU hit .222 to the Cougars' .213
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Khori Dryden had a team-high 16 kills
- Chloe Cook added 14 kills
- Danielle Schade chipped in 11 kills on 29 swings
- Mya Cunningham recorded a double-double of 25 assists and 12 digs
- Lexa Zimmerman also had a double-double of 19 digs and 10 assists
- Evie Dart had two aces and five blocks
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST SET
- Marian took five of six points to take an early 5-2 lead
- Mount Vernon took an early timeout after an attack error gave the Knights an 11-5 lead
- The Cougars scored five straight from the timeout to cut the deficit to 11-10
- Kaylee Dar's ace put MVNU ahead 18-17
- MU got within a single point down the stretch, but the Cougars ended the frame with a pair of kills
SECOND SET
- A pair of kills from Cook and one from Ava Tindall put the Knights ahead 5-2 early in the second
- Four straight Cougars points put MVNU in front
- Schade had three kills in a four-point stretch before Dart's ace capped a 5-0 Marian run to forced an MVNU timeout
- The Cougars scored seven of eight points after the timeout to lead 21-18
- A Dryden pulled Marian within 22-21, but MVNU scored the set's final three points to take a two-set lead
THIRD SET
- Dart's kill put Marian ahead 3-0 early in the third
- A pair of Cook kills put MU ahead 11-5 to force a Cougar timeout
- MVNU burned another timeout when Dryden's kill had the Knights in front, 15-6
- Libby Evanshine's kill got Mount Vernon to within 19-14
- A Dryden kill and an ace from Emerson Evans helped Marian right the ship, cruising to a 25-18 win in set three
FOURTH SET
- After dropping the first two points, Marian scored the next three points in set four
- Dryden registered a kill and then an ace to go ahead 7-5
- Kate Ruffle's ace tied the frame at 14
- Another MVNU ace put the Cougars ahead 18-16
- Cook's kill pushed the Knights to set point at 24-23; MU had another set point when Cook's kill made it 25-24
- MVNU scored the final three points of the match to take the match and the five seed at stake
UP NEXT
- Marian earns the 6-seed in the upcoming Crossroads League Tournament; they'll head to 3rd-seed and 20th-ranked Grace on Saturday at 5 p.m.
