Site: Livonia, Mich. (Activities Center)
Score: No. 18 Madonna 3, Embry-Riddle 1 (25-22, 25-12, 22-25, 25-19)
Records: MU (28-3), ERAU (18-6)
Next MU event: Friday, Oct. 23 vs. No. 20 Taylor (Livonia, Mich.)
LIVONIA, Mich. (MadonnaCrusaders.com) - - The No. 18-ranked Madonna volleyball team downed visiting Embry-Riddle 3-1 - 25-22, 25-12, 22-25, 25-19 - to open play at the 2009 Crusader Classic presented by BLT Sportswear and Apparel on Friday (Oct. 23) inside the Activities Center.
Senior Mary McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) led MU with 16 kills while sophomore Karie Altman (Taylor, Mich.) added 14 and junior Liz Dempsey (Westland, Mich.) posted 11 kills and 12 digs for her third straight double-double. Senior Inta Grinvalds (Portage, Mich.) handed out 44 assists and dug 10 balls while sophomore Amanda Koszela (Dearborn, Mich.) led MU with 21 digs. Abby Hall led all players with 20 kills for ERAU.
Embry-Riddle led set one until back-to-back Altman kills tied the opener at 21-all. Dempsey then dropped in a service ace to put MU on top for the first time at 22-21. ERAU sided out to pull even again at 22 but another Altman kill and two ERAU miscues gave MU a 25-22 win.
Set two saw the Crusaders leads throughout, going up by eight - at 17-9 - on a kill from freshman Kathleen Donehue (New Hudson, Mich.) and forcing the Eagles to burn their second time out. MU put the set away down the stretch, using a pair of kills from sophomore Katie Czarnecki (Chesterfield, Mich.) and another two from Dempsey in the 25-15 win.
The Eagles responded in set three, taking the set 25-22 as both the Crusaders and Eagles managed to hit .000 (eight attacks/eight errors for MU) in the set. ERAU sided out at a 50 percent rate to take the three point win.
The final set of the match was the tightest with nine ties and six lead changes. With the set even at 17-all, MU went on an 8-2 run to close it out, getting three McGinnis kills and a pair of Altman terminations for the 25-19 win and a 3-1 match victory.
MU closes day one of the Crusader Classic with a showdown against No. 20-ranked Taylor at 7pm.
Contact: Patrick Moore (734) 432-5834
