Bourbonnais, Ill. — The Marian University Volleyball team won its final six sets in season-opening play at the Tiger Kickoff Invitational, besting host Olivet Nazarene in four before sweeping Rochester Christian.
MATCH ONE | Marian 3, Olivet Nazarene 1
TEAM STATISTICS
- Marian recorded 48 kills to Olivet Nazarene's 40
- Both teams served up eight aces
- The Knights picked up 11 blocks to just three for ONU
- MU held the edge in assists 43-40
- The Tigers held a small edge in digs, 62-57
- The Knights hit .240 for the match, while holding ONU to .090
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Khori Dryden hit .464 with 16 kills and 10 digs for a double-double
- Danielle Schade added 11 kills and four blocks
- Sami Luttell and Mya Cunningham combined for 37 assists
- Cunningham served up a team-best three aces
- Lexa Zimmerman tallied a team-high 18 digs
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST SET
- ONU jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the opening set
- Seven straight points for the Knights allowed them to take an 11-7 advantage
- After holding a slim 16-15 lead, the Tigers rattled off seven straight points of their own to pull within reach of an opening set win
SECOND SET
- The Tigers took the opening four points of the second set
- The Knights battled back, forcing an ONU timeout after a Dryden kill and a Tiger error made it 18-16, Marian
- ONU once again made a late-set run, scoring six straight to lead 22-18
- Two Dryden kills surrounded an ONU attack error to bring the deficit back to a point
- Marian scored the last four points of the set to even up the match
THIRD SET
- Cunningham's early-set ace put the Knights up 6-3
- A Schade kill and an ONU error put MU up 15-9 to force a Tiger timeout
- Kills from Ava Tindall, Schade and Dryden forced another timeout, leading 21-11
- Dryden clinched the third set, 25-13, with another kill
FOURTH SET
- Chloe Cook's kill forced a timeout with five straight Marian points, leading 15-9 in the fourth
- The Knights tacked on three more points after the timeout to lead 18-9
- Zimmerman's ace forced a timeout at match point and a service error gave MU its first win of 2026
MATCH TWO | Marian 3, Rochester Christian 0
TEAM STATISTICS
- Marian tallied 43 kills to Rochester Christian's 20
- The Knights added eight more aces in match two
- MU held a 39-17 edge in assists
- Marian hit .360, including a blistering .455 in the second set; the Knights held the Warriors to .022
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Cook tallied 16 kills on a .406 hitting percentage
- Cubbingham and Luttell combined for 27 assists
- Cunningham served up four more aces
- Dryden led the team with 11 digs; Zimmerman added 10
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST SET
- Rochester Christian tallied the match's first three points
- The Warriors led 8-2, forcing a Marian timeout
- Four straight Knight points cut the difference to 9-7
- Dryden's ace gave MU its first lead at 14-13 and forced an RCU timeout
- The Knights tacked on three more points after the timeout to lead by four
- One of Cook's eight first-set kills brought the Knights to set point
SECOND SET
- Dryden's kill and ace allowed Marian to take a 10-3 lead
- Cunningham followed with a pair of aces to push the lead to 15-5
- Dryden tallied three kills in the last four points as the Knights cruised to the second-set win
THIRD SET
- Tindall's kill capped a four-point run for Marian to take an early lead in set three
- Two RCU attack errors forced the Warriors to call a timeout trailing 17-10
- Another Cunningham ace made it a 22-11 Marian lead
- Tindall finished off the match with a kill to send the Knights to a 2-0 opening day
UP NEXT
- Marian returns to Olivet Nazarene on Saturday, facing Freed-Hardeman and Lindsey Wilson at 1 p.m. CT and 5 p.m. CT, respectively
