ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's volleyball team battled Madonna to five sets but lost in heartbreaking fashion in extra points (22-25, 25-18, 25-27, 26-28, 16-14). As a result, the Saints fall to 8-3 in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play.
Aline Marinelo (.452) and Janel Ruhlman (.255) totaled 15 kills to lead the team offensively. Marinelo led the Saints at the net with six blocks. Ruhlman and Olivia Norman added five blocks. Aubrey Bates tallied another double-double with 50 assists and 20 digs on the afternoon. Payton Osborne broke her career-high of 27 digs with 30 against the Crusaders. Kadie Carsten added 18 digs on defense and six kills on the offensive side.
Madonna used a 4-0 run late in the first set to build a 16-10 run. The Saints rallied and chipped away at the deficit until they used a 4-0 run of their own to take a 22-19 lead. A service error gave SHU the setpoint, and an attack error sealed the Saints' comeback win to take the 1-0 lead.
The Crusaders leaped to an 11-3 lead in the second set and never looked back on the way to a 25-18 win to tie the score at 1-1. However, a 17-12 lead propelled the visitors to an eight-point victory in the third, and the Saints saw themselves in a 2-1 deficit going into the fourth.
A 4-0 run in the fourth by the Navy and Yellow tied the game at 10. SHU grabbed an 18-17 lead with a 3-0 run before Madonna knotted the score at 20. With the tied at 23, the teams traded points to a 26-26 deadlock. Ruhlman registered a kill to give SHU the setpoint, and Carsten and Norman blocked a ball to seal the win and force the fifth set.
The final set remained tight into double-digits as the score was tied at 11, 12, and 13. A block gave the Crusaders a setpoint, but Ruhlman hit a kill to bring the score to a tie at 14. Back-to-back kills from Madonna ended the hard-fought match.
Up Next
The Saints hit the road for a three-game road trip starting Wednesday, October 20 at Lourdes. That match is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. EST.
