WILMORE, Ky. (MadonnaCrusaders.com) - - The Madonna University volleyball team had little trouble in its opening match on Saturday (Oct. 10) at the Asbury College Classic, downing Milligan College 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-13) to move to 3-0 at the Classic.

Of the 32 MU kills, junior Katie Czarnecki (Chesterfield, Mich.) collected 10 against two errors to post a .750 hitting percentage to lead the Crusaders. Senior Inta Grinvalds (Portage, Mich.) handed out 29 assists and sophomore Amanda Koszela (Dearborn, Mich.) posted nine digs in the win. The Crusaders posted 11 total blocks including four solos to hold the Lady Buffs to a -.030 attack percentage. Morgan Rutledge led the Lady Buffs with eight kills.

Set one was all Madonna from wire-to-wire as the Crusaders connected at a .316 percentage behind a trio of kills from sophomore Karie Altman (Taylor, Mich.). Altman posted a solo block and teamed with freshman Anastasija Baranovska (Riga, Latvia) for a block to end the set and give MU the 25-11 win.

The second set was a battle of attrition as the two sides would trade errors and kills before back-to-back kills from freshman Kathleen Donehue (New Hudson, Mich.) and three straight service aces from senior Mary McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) took Madonna from a 16-13 lead to a 21-13 cushion. Another Altman solo block gave MU set point at 24-17 and a Lady Buff miscue ended the set at 25-17 for the Crusaders.

Czarnecki was the story in set three as the 6-1 lefty posted seven of her kills in the final frame. A Seremetjeva kill made it 21-13 Madonna and after three Miligan mistakes made it 24-13, junior Anna Gatt (Livonia, Mich.) served an ace to end the set and the match in favor of the Crusaders.