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Posted by Patrick Moore - Volleyball - Thu, Sep 17, 2009
Katie Czarnecki posted 10 kills and three block assists in Thursday's win
Katie Czarnecki posted 10 kills and three block assists in Thursday's win
Site: Livonia, Mich. (Activities Center)
Score: No. 9 Madonna 3, Concordia 0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-14)
Records: MU (13-1; 2-0 WHAC), CU (10-7; 1-1 WHAC)
Next MU event: Friday, Sept. 18 vs. UM-Dearborn (at Livonia, Mich.)
LIVONIA, Mich. - - The No. 9-ranked Madonna University volleyball team overcame a sluggish first set to sweep visiting Concordia University 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-14) on Thursday (Sept. 17) night inside the Activities Center.

Junior outside hitter Liz Dempsey (Westland, Mich.) led MU (13-1; 2-0 WHAC) with 11 kills and a team high 10 digs while sophomore outside hitter Katie Czarnecki (Chesterfield, Mich.) added 10 terminations and three block assists. Senior setter Inta Grinvalds (Portage, Mich.) handed out 41 assists.

The opening set was tight through out as the Crusaders' largest cushion was five points at 12-7 and 17-12. The Cards trimmed the MU lead to a pair at 21-19 prompting MU boss Jerry Abraham to call his second timeout of the set. Coming out of the break the two sides traded points until Dempsey finished off a Grinvalds cross court set for a 24-21 lead. Sophomore middle hitter Marie Martin (Canton, Mich.) ended the set with a shot to the 10-foot line off of another Grinvalds set for the 25-21 win.

Set two was tied at four early but a 4-0 MU provided by a pair of Dempsey kills and a kill from Grinvalds run pushed the lead to 8-4. The lead grew to 16-9 on a kill from senior outside hitter Mary McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) kill forcing a Concordia timeout. Coming out of the break Madonna and Concordia traded points until a Cardinal error combined with a block from Czarnecki and freshman outside hitter Kathleen Donehue (New Hudson, Mich.) along with a service ace from junior defensive specialist Anna Gatt (Livonia, Mich.)  increased the home lead to 20-12. A pair of kills from sophomore middle hitter Karie Altman (Taylor, Mich.) and another from Czarnecki down the stretch sealed the 25-17 set two win for Madonna.

The final set of the night  saw the Cards lead early on as there were three ties in the set, the last coming at 4-4 after a Czarnecki attack found the floor. A McGinnis kill along with another from Czarnecki wrapped around a pair of service aces from senior defensive specialist Abby Long (LaPorte, Ind.) pushed the Crusader lead to 8-4 and saw the Cards call a time out. From that point the Crusaders never saw their lead drop below three points in closing the set on a 17-10 run sparked by two kills from freshman outside hitter Anastasija Seremetjeva (Riga, Latvia) along with three from Czarnecki, including match point in the 25-14 win.

Madonna returns to the court on Friday (Sept. 18) taking on Michigan-Dearborn at 7pm inside the Activities Center.
 
POST MATCH QUOTES
Sophomore outside hitter Katie Czarnecki
On what she saw tonight on her attacks...
"A lot of the deeper shots were open tonight because they were playing up closer to the net. Instead of attacking the 10-foot line we tried to go deeper."