Site: Grand Rapids, Mich. (DU Student Center)
Score: No. 18 Madonna 3, Davenport 2 (21-25, 26-28, 29-27, 25-20, 15-5)
Records: MU (26-3; 10-1 WHAC), DU (16-14; 4-6 WHAC)
Next MU event: Thursday, Oct. 22 vs. Cornerstone (Livonia, Mich.)
BOX SCORE
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (MadonnaCrusaders.com) - - Behind a match high 22 kills from senior
Mary McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.), the No. 18-ranked Madonna University volleyball team came from behind to upend pesky Davenport in five sets, 21-25, 26-28, 29-27, 25-20, 15-5, Tuesday night (Oct. 20) at the DU Student Center.
Junior Liz Dempsey (Westland, Mich.) joined McGinnis in double-figure kills with 18 to go along with a career best 23 digs while sophomores Karie Altman (Taylor, Mich.) and Katie Czarnecki (Chesterfield, Mich.) posted 13 terminations each. Senior Inta Grinvalds (Portage, Mich.) paced the MU offense with a season high 59 assists. Grinvalds also tied her season high with 14 digs to join sophomores Megan Fricke (Wyandotte, Mich.) and Amanda Koszela (Dearborn, Mich.) who posted 11 and 16 digs respectively. Kelse Moon led DU with 16 kills while Ashley Penny added 15 in the setback.
In the deciding fifth set, the Crusaders rode the hot right arm of Dempsey as the 5-8 outside posted three kills among her four swings to connect at a .750 rate in the final set. McGinnis and Fricke both posted service aces, with Fricke's coming for match point as MU ran away with the 15-5 win.
DU held a 2-0 lead after two sets and set three looked like it was going to be the final of the night as the Panthers blocked an Altman attack to earn set point at 27-26. During the next rally Fricke some how pancaked the ball to keep it from hitting the floor, keeping MU's night alive. The rally continued and a pass eventually found Grinvalds who set McGinnis in the middle of the net to tie the set at 27-27 before a DU error followed by a combo block from Altman and Czarnecki won the set for MU at 29-27.
Set four was tight early with MU holding the lead through out, but by never more than four points. An Altman kill from Grinvalds pushed the Crusader lead to five at 21-16. From there the MU lead never shrank to fewer than four the rest of the set as two McGinnis kills gave the Crusaders a 25-20 win and a 2-2 tie in the match.
Poor hitting was MU's downfall in sets one and two as the Crusaders combined to connect at just a .076 rate in the two sets. After set one was tied 18-all, the Panthers went on a 7-3 run, taking advantage of five Crusader miscues in the 25-21 win. The Crusaders squandered a 24-21 lead in set two, letting the Panthers climb back to tie the set at 24-all before DU eventually took the set at 28-26, closing the set on a 7-2 run to go in front 2-0.
The Crusaders return home for five matches in a three day span, starting Thursday (Oct. 22) when WHAC rival Cornerstone comes calling to the Activities Center for a 7pm match. MU hosts the Crusader Classic this weekend with matches on Friday and Saturday.
