Site: Livonia, Mich. (Activities Center)
Score: No. 9 Madonna 3, Davenport 2 (2510, 26-24, 14-25, 23-25, 15-11)
Records: MU (15-1; 4-0 WHAC), DU (7-8; 1-2 WHAC)
Next MU event: Thursday, Sept. 24 vs. Cornerstone (at Grand Rapids, Mich.)
LIVONIA, Mich. - - The No. 9-ranked Madonna University volleyball team had to rally after dropping sets three and four but came up with a set five win to remain undefeated in conference play with a 3-2 (2510, 26-24, 14-25, 23-25, 15-11) win over Davenport on Tuesday (Sept. 22) in a match that lasted almost two hours inside the Activities Center.
Senior outside hitter Mary McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) led MU with 20 kills and a pair of block solos while sophomore outside hitter Katie Czarnecki (Chesterfield, Mich.) posted 11 kills. Senior setter Inta Grinvalds (Portage, Mich.) handed out 44 assists and posted 11 digs while sophomore libero Amanda Koszela (Dearborn, Mich.) dug 18 balls. Kassie Graves and Ashley Penny led DU with 15 and 13 kills each.
The first set was all Madonna from the start as the Crusaders used a .529 attacking percentage to cruise to the 25-10 win. MU opened the set on a 7-0 run, thanks in part to a pair of McGinnis kills along with blocks from sophomore middle hitter Karie Altman (Taylor, Mich.), Czarnecki and McGinnis. After a Crusader error made it a 9-3 contest, McGinnis and junior outside hitter Liz Dempsey (Westland, Mich.) posted back-to-back kills to make it 11-3. Following a DU time out the Crusaders kept the offense clicking, pushing the lead to 19-7 on another of Dempsey's nine terminations on the night and a block from Altman and Grinvalds made it 20-7. A DU mistake gave MU its first set point of the night and a McGinnis kill from a Czarnecki set gave MU the 25-10 win.
Set two of the night was tight through out with neither side holding a lead of more than three and that came with MU up 17-14 after a solo block from freshman Kathleen Donehue (New Hudson, Mich.). To fought back, tying the set at 18-all and again at 22-22. MU saw another set point at 24-22 after a DU miscue but a pair of Crusader errors tied the set at 24-all and forced head coach Jerry Abraham to burn a time out. Coming out of the break the home side saw kills from McGinnis and Dempsey go down for the 26-24 win.
As on as the MU offense was in sets one and two, it was the total opposite in sets three and four as the Crusaders hit .000 in set three, posting 10 kills against 10 errors in falling 25-14. Set four was not much better from the MU perspective as the Royal Blue and Gold hit just .020 in falling 25-23 and seeing DU force a fifth game for the first time in the history of the series between the two clubs. Of the 31 errors MU committed on the night, 20 came in sets three and four.
The deciding set was back and forth early as the two teams traded the first 14 points of the set before Madonna went up for good at 8-7 as the two sides changed ends of the court. Back-to-back McGinnis kills put MU on top 10-7 before DU got a point back to make it 10-8. A Grinvalds attack found the floor to make it 11-8 but Graves found the floor with a ball for the Panthers to make it 11-9. The two sides traded hitting errors to see MU go up 12-10. A pair of Czarnecki kills wrapped around a Penny termination for DU gave MU its first match point of the night and junior defensive specialist Anna Gatt (Livonia, Mich.) ended the contest with a service ace for a dramatic 15-11 fifth set win and a 3-2 match win for MU.
The Crusaders return to action on Thursday, traveling to Grand Rapids to battle with Cornerstone in a 7pm match at Mol Arena.
