Comeback Effort Falls Short, Volleyball Loses in Four

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DETROIT — The Marygrove women’s volleyball team fell to 1-9 overall and 0-5 in WHAC play on Wednesday (Sept. 16) in Detroit after dropping a four-set league tilt to the visiting Warriors of Indiana Tech. The Mustangs – a team stuck in the middle of a nine-match skid – turned a corner halfway through Wednesday’s match, pushing back into the contest with a third-set win despite falling in four (16-25, 18-25, 25-20, 22-25).

The Warriors (6-6, 2-2 WHAC) jumped out to a two-sets-to-none lead after topping the Mustangs 25-16 and 25-18 in the opening two stanzas. Fourth-year head coach Jamie Baker and the Mustangs battled back in set three, potentially turning their season around with a renewed effort.

“I am proud of the way we finished, but we still fell short of our goal,” said Baker after the match. “We seemed to figure a few things out tonight, which is a plus, but we still have plenty of work ahead of us in the coming days and weeks. We had a ton of players step up and our communication was improved at times. We took a step forward as a team tonight but need to prove we are heading in the right direction with a great effort on Friday.”

Down two sets and 0-for-8 over their past eight sets played, the Mustangs stormed back to win the third frame, 25-20, behind nine kills and only three errors. The Warriors countered with a mistaken-laden set, committing 11 attack errors to help lift the Mustangs to the five-point, set-three win.

Momentum carried through to the fourth set but the Mustangs were outdone by a 4-1 Warrior run to close out the match after set four was knotted up, 21-21.

A balanced attack led the Warriors to victory as Jazmin Alexander, Cassie Sarabia and Katelyn St. Martin combined for 50 of the team’s 70 kills. The 50-kill effort by the trio trumped that of the Mustangs’ team kill total, 36.

Brenna Donnelly (Yale, Mich./Mott Community College) and Ashley Murphy (Southfield, Mich./Clarenceville High School) paced the Mustangs with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Amber Kelly (Mt. Morris, Mich./Mt. Morris High School) anchored the Mustangs defensively with 12 digs, playing the final stages of the match as the team’s libero.

Senior middle/outside Rachel Staudt (Novi, Mich./Lawrence Tech) enjoyed another solid night with nine kills on 23 attack attempts, while sophomore outside hitter Skylar Zeigler (Canton, Mich./Belleville High School) played a huge role in the comeback effort by sparking the team with emotion throughout the match.

The Mustangs return to action Friday (Sept. 18) at the Concordia Quad with matches at 3, 5 and 7 p.m. in Ann Arbor, Mich.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL CONTACT: Tim Johnston | [email protected]/* */ | @tjohnston56
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