Staudt Ties Kills Record, Volleyball Outlasts UNOH in Five

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SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – History! Senior outside hitter, Rachel Staudt, secured Marygrove volleyball’s best WHAC win in program history by slamming down her 22nd kill of the match, as the Mustangs outlasted Northwestern Ohio in five sets on Saturday (Oct. 17) in Southfield, Mich. Staudt’s 22nd and final kill of the match tied a single-match record for Marygrove volleyball as the senior moved into a first-place tie with former Mustang Mille Velez for the number one spot of all-time.

The win over the Racers of Northwestern Ohio (10-17, 6-10 WHAC) marked the Mustangs first win over a league foe with four or more wins in WHAC play since joining the conference in 2012.

Staudt and the Mustangs (4-20, 2-13 WHAC) willed their way to a seemingly never-ending first-set win, squeaking by the Racers by a 34-32 final tally to take the early advantage. The Mustangs outlasted the Racers in the opener behind a season-best 20 kills in the set and a .325 hitting percentage. Northwestern Ohio countered with a 17-kill effort, but committed eight errors as the Mustangs pulled away with the marathon-set victory.

The Racers won the next two sets behind a pair of .300-plus hitting percentage stanzas, placing the Mustangs in a do-or-die situation in the fourth frame.

In set four, the Mustangs worked their way to a 25-18 win, thanks to a 13-kill effort as Staudt (Novi, Mich./Lawrence Tech) and Hailey Brandes (Southgate, Mich./Anderson High School) proved to be no match for the Racers. Brandes had a season-high 15 kills in the match, six coming in set four, to help the Mustangs force a deciding fifth frame in Southfield.

Shaking off their season-long fifth-set blues, the Mustangs pummeled the Racers in the final stanza, 15-10, off of a 10-kill, one error performance. The strong final set produced kills 20-through-22 for Staudt as the senior closed out a historic effort for fourth-year head coach Jamie Baker and the Mustangs.

While Staudt and Brandes combined for 37 of the Mustangs’ 67 kills, junior outside hitter Ashley Murphy (Southfield, Mich./Clarenceville High School) earned a team-best .500 hitting percentage off of a 14-kill, two-error match while also recording 15 digs – a defensive mark good for second on the team behind Amber Kelly’s (Mt. Morris, Mich./Mt. Morris High School) team-best 23 digs.

Setters Amber Staudt and Hayley Jury joined forces for 58 assists in the five-set win. Staudt set up her older sister to earn a team-high 32 assists while Jury followed closely with 26 of her own to accompany a team-best two aces.

Alixandria Pappas (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Lakeview High School) help shut down the Racers by recording three blocks to help the Mustangs earn the hard-fought victory.

Earlier in the day, the Mustangs suffered a straight sets loss to Cornerstone University. The Golden Eagles topped the Mustangs in the neutral site matchup by set scores of 25-23, 25-12 and 25-8.

[Rachel] Staudt led the Mustangs with eight kills in the setback while Cornerstone’s Kendra Zwart paced all players with a match-high 11 converted attacks.

The Mustangs hit the road Wednesday (Oct. 21) for Fort Wayne to take on Indiana Tech at 7 p.m.

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