Kokomo, Ind. —- The Marian University volleyball team faced a pair of nationally ranked opponents to open the IU Kokomo Invite, falling to 21st-ranked Cornerstone and 17th-ranked Aquinas on Friday afternoon.
MATCH ONE | #21 Cornerstone 3, Marian 2
TEAM STATISTICS
- Cornerstone tallied 78 kills to Marian's 55
- The Golden Eagles had four aces to one for the Knights
- MU held an edge in blocks, 12-10
- CU had 88 digs to 70 for Marian
- Cornerstone hit .213; the Knights hit .177
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Khori Dryden led the team with 18 kills, eclipsing 1,000 for her career
- Chloe Cook chipped in 13 kills
- Evie Dart had 10 kills and a team-best eight blocks
- Mya Cunningham logged a season-high 31 assists
- Lexa Zimmerman led the way with 17 digs
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST SET
- Marian jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the opening set
- The Golden Eagles briefly took a lead near the midway point, 11-10
- A key Dryden kill helped the Knights pull out in front; three of CU's 35 errors in the match clinched the first-set win for Marian
SECOND SET
- The Knights once again started quickly, leading 9-2 in the second set to force a Cornerstone timeout
- The Golden Eagles once again battled back, tying the set at 11
- Marian led 15-11, but a 6-0 Cornerstone run gave the Golden Eagles a late lead in the set
- After MU got within a point, Gabby VerBerkmoes struck for two kills to even up the match
THIRD SET
- It was Cornerstone who started quickly in the third, leading 9-2 in the earlygoing
- An 8-1 Marian run tied the set at 11
- The Golden Eagles responded back with the next four points and led the rest of the frame, winning set three 25-16
FOURTH SET
- Marian scored the first five points of the fourth set, leading 8-2 early on
- Cornerstone whittled down the Knights' lead, so much as tying the set at 19
- Marian reached set point at 24-22, but the Golden Eagles battled back with two kills
- The Knights were finally able to put Cornerstone away in the fourth with Dart's kill
FIFTH SET
- The Knights jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the decisive fifth set
- Cornerstone scored seven of nine points to take an 8-7 advantage
- Dryden and Daniel Schade kills pushed Marian to match point at 14-12
- The Golden Eagles scored the next four to squeeze out the win in a thriller
MATCH TWO | #17 Aquinas 3, Marian 0
TEAM STATISTICS
- Aquinas had 43 kills to Marian's 37
- The Saints picked up 11 aces to five for the Knights
- AQ led the battle for blocks, 13-1
- MU held the edge in digs, 62-54
- Aquinas hit .288; Marian hit .134
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Cook was the lone Knight in double figures with kills with 10
- Cunningham dished out 29 assists with six kills, hitting .545
- Zimmerman tallied a team-best 15 digs
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST SET
- Marian led early in the first set, but Aquinas flipped the lead, forcing an early Knights timeout leading 10-6
- Marian called TO again with the Saints leading 18-11
- The Saints led by as much as 22-11 before the Knights took five of six points with a pair of kills from Cook
- Aquinas closed the opening set with an ace
SECOND SET
- Marian started off the second set fast with three straight kills – two from Cook and a third from Ashlynn Turner
- Danielle Schade turned in back-to-back kills near the midpoint to help flip the lead Marian's way, 15-13
- Another Schade kill and Emerson Evans' ace forced Aquinas to call a timeout trailing 18-15
- Marian fought off an Aquinas set point before setting up two set points of their own, but AQ tallied three straight points to take a lengthy second frame, 28-26
THIRD SET
- Five straight Aquinas points forced a Marian timeout with the Knights trailing 11-7
- Marian strung together seven straight points with two kills apiece from Cook and Dart to turn a 13-8 deficit to a 15-13 lead
- Aquinas regained control of the lead with four straight points, finishing the match with a pair of kills
UP NEXT
- Marian returns to Kokomo on Saturday, facing Saint Xavier at 2 p.m. before its third ranked match of the weekend in 10th-ranked Cumberlands at 4:15 p.m.
