Site: Grand Rapids, Mich. (Forest Hills Northern HS)
Score: No. 9 Madonna 3, Aquinas 0 (25-15, 25-22, 26-24)
Records: MU (18-1; 6-0 WHAC), AQ (13-3; 3-2 WHAC)
Next MU event: Thursday, Oct. 1 vs. Michigan-Dearborn (Dearborn, Mich.)
BOX SCORE
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - - Double-doubles from junior Liz Dempsey (11 kills, 11 digs) and senior Mary McGinnis (11 kills, 10 digs) the No. 9-ranked Madonna University volleyball team swept Aquinas 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 26-24) on Tuesday (Sept. 29) at Forest Hills Northern High School.
Joining Dempsey (Westland, Mich.) and McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) in double figures was sophomore outside hitter Katie Czarnecki (Chesterfield, Mich.) with 10 kills while sophomore libero Amanda Koszela (Dearborn, Mich.) led the way with 12 digs and senior defensive specialist Abby Long (LaPorte, Ind.) chipped in with 10 dug balls of her own. Senior setter Inta Grinvalds (Portage, Mich.) handed out 39 assists. Mollie Lounds led AQ with 11 kills.
Aquinas held the lead early in set one until Koszela went to the service line for Madonna, taking the Crusaders from down 8-6 to up 14-8. Back-to-back blocks by sophomore Karie Altman (Taylor, Mich.) and Dempsey and then the second from Altman and Grinvalds pulled MU even at 8-8. An ace from Koszela put the Crusaders up for good in the set at 9-8 and another of Altman's nine kills pushed the lead to 10-8. Another Altman kill followed by a Dempsey ace made it 17-9. Kills from Altman, Czarnecki and Dempsey down the stretch along with four AQ errors gave MU the 25-15 win.
Set two saw AQ lead early and hold onto it's lead until MU went ahead at 21-20 on the first of back-to-back kills from McGinnis. A pair of Czarnecki kills put the set away for MU at 25-22 and put MU up 2-0 in the match.
The final set of the match was the tightest of the three as it saw 13 ties and five lead changes. Neither side held more than a three point lead until MU went up 22-18 on another McGinnis kill. AQ pulled back to even at 22-all, taking advantage of three MU errors to square the set. McGinnis gave the Crusaders their first match point of the night on a kill to make it 24-23. The Saints made it 24-all on a Jessica Curtis kill. Dempsey then made it 25-24 on a kill before AQ could not handle an Anna Gatt (Livonia, Mich.) serve for match point and a 26-24 win for MU.
The Crusaders return to the court on Thursday, taking on Michigan-Dearborn at the UMD Field House at 7pm.
