LIVONIA, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's volleyball team fell in straight sets on the road to Madonna in the team's first Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) match. Victoria Nerkowski (Mason, Mich.) had a team-high .364 hitting percentage in the losing effort.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Madonna 3, Siena Heights 0 (25-16, 31-29, 25-13)
Location: Livonia, Mich. (MU Activity Center)
Records: Madonna (9-4, 1-0 WHAC), Siena Heights (2-5, 0-1 WHAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Saints scored three straight points to pull within one point (12-11) in the opening set before the Crusaders tallied nine of the next 10 points to roll to a 25-16 decision and a 1-0 lead in sets. The Saints offense struggled in the first set as the team finished with the only negative attack percentage in the match.
Despite hitting .130 to Madonna's .302, Siena forced the Crusaders to earn the win in the second set as the game went to extras, 31-29. SHU rallied back from a five-point deficit (21-16) and eventually knotted things up at 24 to force a Madonna timeout. The teams traded points until the Saints scored twice to take a 29-28 lead. A kill by the Crusaders on the next play tied the game back up at 29 and sparked the three-point run that gave Madonna the 2-0 lead.
Madonna never trailed in the third set as the team scored the first four points before building a 9-2 lead before winning the match with a 25-13 set-three score.
TOP SAINTS
• Nerkowski finished the match by tying the team-high in kills with six. She also led SHU with three blocks.
• Aline Marinelo (Sao Paulo, Brazil) also recorded six kills (.250), two blocks, and a dig.
• Carrigan Gray (Bowling Green, Ohio) paced the SHU offense with 14 assists while adding three kills, three digs, a service ace, and a block.
• Karsyn Wolf (Temperance, Mich.) had a team-high 12 digs and also scored an assist.
THE OPPOSITION
• Jodie Kelly recorded a double-double with 19 kills and 10 digs.
• Betsy Cook had a match-high 34 assists.
• Olivia Sweeney led the Crusaders with 12 digs.
UP NEXT
The Saints will try to bounce back on Wednesday, September 18 when they host UM-Dearborn in a WHAC contest. The match is set to begin at 7:00 p.m., EST.
