In the first match of the day, MVNU (3-1) took care of Michigan-Dearborn 25-19, 25-15, 25-19 despite an 8:30 a.m. start time coming on the heels of a five-set marathon win over Bethel (Ind.) College late on Friday evening. Sophomore middle hitter Jackie Albrecht (left) continued her hot play to start the season as she led the Lady Cougars with 13 kills and 17 digs. Senior outside hitter Audrey Hickinbotham added eight kills, 10 digs, and four aces, and junior setter Kaylin Austen handed out 27 assists. Freshman middle hitter Gina Porto and sophomore middle hitter Sarah Yutzy recorded five and four blocks respectively, while junior right-side hitter Courtney Springer served up four aces.

"We did what we needed to do in order to win this match,” said MVNU head coach Paul Swanson. "We were not as sharp as we could have been in the back row, but we played well enough to make up for some inconsistencies.”

That set the stage for two undefeated and nationally-ranked teams led by the two winningest coaches in NAIA history to square off in the final match for both teams in the 17-team event. After pulling out a hard-fought 27-25 victory in the first set, the Lady Crusaders (5-0) of Madonna posted 25-17 and 25-16 victories in the second and third sets respectively to claim the match and the tournament title as they did not drop a set in four matches over the weekend. The victory also pulled Jerry Abraham, the Lady Crusaders’ head coach, to within three wins of the top spot on the all-time list as he now stands at 849 victories to 852 for Swanson.

Albrecht finished with 11 kills and 11 digs to pace the Lady Cougars, while Yutzy and Springer tallied six kills apiece with Yutzy also posting a team-high four blocks and Springer totaling 10 digs. Austen handed out 22 assists, and Hickinbotham contributed three aces and nine digs.

"The first set was a very exciting, evenly-matched set,” said Swanson. "Then, in the second and third sets, we just did not play well enough in the back row and (Madonna) took advantage of that. They are a very good team with basically everyone back from a very strong squad last year. This was a great weekend for us as we gained valuable experience and also saw the areas that we have plenty of room for improvement in. I was pleased with the effort of the team and I know that they want to keep working hard to get better.”

MVNU will now have a week of practice before heading to Bryan (Tenn.) College next weekend for another two-day tournament. The Lady Cougars will face Shorter (Ga.) College at 4:30 p.m. on Friday to open up play. Then, on Saturday, MVNU will be busy with three matches - Colorado Christian University at 9:30 a.m., Lee (Tenn.) University, who received votes in the NAIA preseason poll, at 11:30 a.m., and host Bryan at 5:00 p.m.