Volleyball Settles for CRAM Tri-Match Split

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DETROIT – The rotating CRAM tri-match found its way inside Detroit’s Northwest Activities Center as the Marygrove women’s volleyball team (4-9, 1-4 WHAC) played host to WHAC foe Concordia-Ann Arbor and fellow NAIA school, Rochester College. The Mustangs opened the day with an impressive 3-1 victory over the Concordia Cardinals (6-8, 1-4 WHAC), but lost steam late as the visiting Rochester Warriors won in straight sets, 3-0.

The Mustangs will now reset their attention to WHAC action with the Cardinals scheduled to return to NWAC Wednesday (Sept. 24) at 7 p.m. The match will be streamed live on marygrovemustangs.com/live beginning at 6:50 p.m.

MATCH ONE – MARYGROVE DEF. CONCORDIA-ANN ARBOR (25-22, 27-25, 23-25, 31-29)

Third-year head coach Jamie Baker improved to 3-2 overall over the Cardinals after the Mustangs outlasted their WHAC counterpart to earn a four-set victory. The Mustangs won the first two sets before the Cardinals stole the third by a narrow 25-23 decision. In the fourth set, the Mustangs cruised out to a 17-8 lead and were seemingly minutes away from wrapping up the win. Head coach Karen Graves and the Cardinals had other plans, rattling off 10-straight points to take the lead. The Cardinal comeback would be spoiled by a gritty Green & Gold squad as the Mustangs took the fourth set, 31-29, after the teams exchanged points well after the 25-point mark.

Kiara Cobbs (Detroit, Mich./King High School) led the Mustangs with 11 kills, while Ashley Murphy (Southfield, Mich./Livonia Clarenceville High School) followed with nine of her own. Nicole Kempinski (Livonia, Mich./Schoolcraft College) moved back to setter for the day and amassed 20 assists after sister, Kara Kempinski, sent the ball her way with a match-high 30 digs.

MATCH TWO – ROCHESTER DEF. MARYGROVE (25-14, 25-23, 25-21)

The Mustangs ran into a Warriors team that was firing on all cylinders Saturday as the teams squared off in the third and final match of the day. The Warriors, winners of their first match of the day over Concordia (3-0), raced past the Mustangs in straight sets behind a strong performance from Paige Tenbrink with a match-high 13 kills. Junior captain Alixandria Pappas (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Lakeview High School) paced a tired Mustangs team with a season-high 10 kills for a .300 hitting percentage.

Rochester led the first set wire-to-wire before the teams engaged in 13 ties and five lead changes over sets two and three. Despite the back-and-forth nature of the latter sets, the Mustangs were unable to stop a Warriors attack that produced 44 kills on a .184 hitting percentage.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL CONTACT: Tim Johnston | tjohnston@marygrove.edu | @tjohnston56
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