Site: Livonia, Mich. (Activities Center)
Score: No. 20 Taylor 3, No. 18 Madonna 2 (19-25, 24-26, 25-17, 29-27, 15-10)
Records: MU (28-4), TU (24-4)
Next MU event: Saturday, Oct. 24 vs. Walsh (Livonia, Mich.)
LIVONIA, Mich. (Madonna Crusaders.com) - - The No. 18-ranked Madonna volleyball team squandered a 2-0 lead in its match with No. 20 Taylor, falling 3-2 (19-25, 24-26, 25-17, 29-27, 15-10) in five sets to close out day one at the Crusader Classic inside the Activities Center.
Senior Mary McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) MU with 23 kills while junior Liz Dempsey (Westland, Mich.) posted 19 kills to go along with 21 digs for her fourth straight double-double (kills/digs). Sophomore Karie Altman (Westland, Mich.) recorded 15 kills to round out the Madonna trio in double figures. Senior Inta Grinvalds (Portage, Mich.) passed out a season high 63 assists while sophomore Amanda Koszela (Dearborn, Mich.) joined Dempsey with 21 digs. Kelsey Pritchard led all players with a staggering 33 kills for Taylor. Pritchard's 33 kills is the most allowed by Madonna to a single player all season.
Set one was tight early but after a Dempsey kill made it 17-all, the Crusaders went on an 8-2 run to close the set and take a 1-0 lead on the 25-19 win. A pair of kills each from Altman and McGinnis and a block from Altman and Grinvalds during the run pushed MU to the eight point win.
The second set was the most hotly contested of the night with 12 ties and seven lead changes. TU earned the first set point of the frame on a Jackie Geile kill to make it 24-23 in favor of the Trojans but a McGinnis kill followed by a block from sophomore Katie Czarnecki (Chesterfield, Mich.) and another McGinnis kill swung the set to MU with the 26-24 win.
TU took the momentum in the third set, allowing MU to post just eight kills among its 27 swings and taking advantage of three MU reception errors in the 25-17 win.
The Crusaders led through out set four until a 3-0 Trojan run took TU from down 22-19 to even at 22-all. The two sides traded points until TU took a 25-24 lead on another MU reception error. After a Madonna time out, the Crusaders pulled back to even on a McGinnis kill for a 26-26 score. A Dempsey kill staved off Taylor for one point to tie the set at 27-27 but another Geile kill followed by a block by Geile ended the set at 29-27 for Taylor and tied the match at 2-2.
Taylor raced out to an early 6-1 lead in the final set and never looked back as Madonna hit just .107, making six errors in 28 swings, falling 15-10 for a 3-2 loss in the match.
MU opens day two of the Crusader Classic on Saturday with a 9:30am match against Walsh inside the Activities Center.
Contact: Patrick Moore (734 432-5834
