After opening American
Mideast Conference play with a pair of
losses in five-set matches, the Mount Vernon
Nazarene University women’s volleyball team
finally came out on the smiling side of a
five-set match as the Lady Cougars knocked
off Notre Dame College 25-14, 28-30, 25-18,
22-25, 15-10 on Thursday night as the Lady
Falcons’ 10-match winning streak came to an
end on their home court in Murphy Gymnasium.
In
the first set, visiting MVNU (14-5, 1-2
AMC), which received votes in the latest
NAIA poll, jumped out to an 8-2 early lead
and never looked back in posting a 25-14
victory.
In the second set, the Lady Cougars twice
served for set point only to have Notre Dame
(12-5, 2-1 AMC), who also received a vote in
this week’s NAIA poll, come back and post a
30-28 win to even the match at one set
apiece.
MVNU bounced back from the tough second
set loss to take the third set 25-18, but
the Lady Falcons pulled out a 25-22 win in
the fourth set to force a fifth and deciding
set to determine the winner of the match.
After the Lady Cougars jumped out to a
7-4 lead in the fifth set, Notre Dame went
on a run to knot the score at 9-9. However,
MVNU scored six of the final seven points to
post a 15-10 win to take the match.
Sophomore middle hitter Jackie Albrecht
paced the Lady Cougars with 20 kills, 13
digs, five blocks, and two aces, while
junior right-side hitter Courtney Springer
(left) pounded 16 kills in 35
attempts with no errors to go along with 10
digs and a career-high nine blocks as she
just missed a triple-double. Junior setter
Kaylin Austen handed out 55 assists with 11
digs, and freshman middle hitter Gina Porto
finished with 10 kills and six blocks.
Sophomore middle hitter Sarah Yutzy and
senior outside hitter Audrey Hickinbotham
both smashed seven kills with Yutzy posting
five blocks and Hickinbotham tallying 14
digs. Freshman outside hitter Cieleste Rose
also registered 13 digs.
“It is nice to finally get that first
conference win,” said MVNU coach Paul
Swanson. “(Notre Dame) is a good team and
they made us earn this one tonight. Having
played or seen a lot of the conference teams
play this season, there is not that much
difference between all the teams at the top
who are vying for the conference title.”
“Courtney had a really good hitting match
for us tonight,” said Swanson. “She was very
efficient with her attack opportunities.
Sarah also had one of her best matches
especially from a blocking standpoint as she
had four solo blocks and five blocks total.”
The Lady Cougars will look to start a
winning streak as the team has little time
to enjoy this victory as Daemen (N.Y.)
College will come to town on Friday night
for another conference match that will begin
at 7:00 p.m.
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