Volleyball Snaps Skid, Sweeps Finlandia at CUAA Quad

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The skid is over! Marygrove women’s volleyball put a halt to the longest losing streak in four years with a 3-0 sweep over NCAA Division III Finlandia (Mich.) on Friday (Sept. 18) to cap off an overall improved performance at the Concordia Quad in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The win over Finlandia in the nightcap snapped an 11-match losing streak, the longest of head coach Jamie Baker’s collegiate coaching career. The Mustangs nearly ended the skid in the first two matches of the day, instead dropping both matches in five-set fashion to Rochester (Mich.) and Concordia-Ann Arbor, respectively.

MATCH ONE – Rochester 3, Marygrove 2 (25-18, 18-25, 25-19, 15-25, 12-15)
The old rivalry was renewed on Friday when the Mustangs and Warriors of Rochester College met to open up Concordia Quad play. The Warriors edged the Mustangs, 15-12, in the fifth and final set to win the quad opener to cap off a match that saw a combined 117 kills between the teams.

Rachel Staudt (Novi, Mich./Lawrence Tech) was impressive throughout the opener, tallying 16 kills (one error) for a team-best .500 hitting percentage. Staudt also hand a hand in five blocks, one less than teammate Alixandria Pappas’ (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Lakeview High School) six block assists against Rochester. Brenna Donnelly (Yale, Mich./Mott CC) was also impressive for the Mustangs with eight kills and no errors for a .421 hitting percentage.

MATCH TWO – Concordia-Ann Arbor 3, Marygrove 2 (25-17, 12-25, 14-25, 25-17, 6-15)
The host Cardinals escaped with a five-set victory in the middle match of Friday’s quad, topping an upset-minded Mustangs squad in a hard-fought match. The Cardinals improved to 12-6 with the win over the Mustangs and were led by 25 combined kills from Autumn VanKirk (13) and Alisha Anderson (12). Erica den Boer assisted in the win for the Cardinals with a well-rounded performance of 12 digs and 10 kills.

Amber Kelly led the Mustangs with 21 digs and Hayley Jury added 15 of her own and 32 assists, but the Mustangs could not get anything going in set five to drop the heartbreaker. Alixandria Pappas posted one of her most efficient matches of the 2015 season with eight kills and only one error for a .412 hitting percentage.

MATCH THREE – Marygrove 3, Finlandia 0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-17)
The Mustangs started slow before Rachel Staudt dominated on her way to a 12-kill, no error match. The senior posted a .706 hitting percentage and was a constant threat around the net for the Green and Gold in the nightcap. Brenna Donnelly was not far off of Staudt’s pace, posting nine kills opposed to two errors against the Finlandia Lions (5-8).

As a team, the Mustangs swept away the Lions with a .297 hitting percentage with 40 kills on 91 attempts and only 13 errors. The Lions countered with a .050 hitting percentage with no player recording more than two kills aside from Natalie Glaes’ team-high eight converted attacked.

Defense was key in the Mustangs triumph over Finlandia as the Lions recorded 20 kills on 80 total attack attempts. The Mustangs’ defense was led by Amber Staudt (Novi, Mich./Schoolcraft College) with a team-best 11 digs while Erica Wilson (Warren, Mich./Macomb CC) and Hayley Jury followed with seven and six digs, respectively.

NEWS AND NOTES 
Former college teammates squared off against each other on Friday with the Mustangs’ coach, Jamie Baker, picking up the win over her former Michigan Tech teammate and current Finlandia head coach, Kristan Schuster.