MVNU (7-3) got off to a good start in the first set as senior outside hitter Julie Haumschild (left) and sophomore middle hitter Gina Porto pounded two kills apiece out of the gate as the Lady Cougars built an early 6-1 lead. The visiting Arrows scored 12 of the next 18 points to take a 13-12 lead - their only one of the night.

The score stayed close with MVNU holding a slim 19-17 lead when the Lady Cougars ran off the final six points of the set to take it 25-17. Porto pounded two more kills, senior setter Kaylin Austin served up two aces, and Haumschild smashed a kill for set point.

MVNU was clicking on all cylinders in the second set as the Lady Cougars jumped out to an 8-2 lead. The margin grew to 21-6 before the visiting Arrows (3-6) closed the gap to 22-10. However, that was as close as they would get as MVNU prevailed 25-12 on a kill by freshman middle hitter Haley Nofziger.

The third set looked like it would be all Lady Cougars early on as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind the serving of Austen, who had two aces during the spurt. However, Ursuline used a run to close the gap to 10-9.

After MVNU pushed its lead back to 20-14, the Arrows once again battled back to pull within 21-19. A kill by junior outside hitter Jackie Albrecht and a block by junior middle hitter Sarah Yutzy helped the Lady Cougars take what appeared to be a commanding 24-19 as they needed just one more point to close out the match.

With the large crowd on their feet hoping for the clinching point, the Arrows rattled off five straight points to knot the score at 24-24. Austen scored a point for MVNU to end the spurt and the teams traded sideouts to 26-26. After a kill by Porto, the Lady Cougars closed out the match on an Ursuline error to take the set 28-26.

Porto finished with 12 kills and two blocks to pace MVNU, while Haumschild registered a career-high 11 kills while playing in just the first two sets. Albrecht tallied eight kills and two aces, and Austen handed out 36 assists to go with three aces and seven digs. Yutzy ripped six kills with two blocks, while freshman setter Lauren Percival and junior libero Caitlin Murphy each served up two aces apiece with Myles posting seven digs.

“It was nice to come back from our trip to a really nice crowd at tonight’s match,” said MVNU coach Paul Swanson. “We started off really well and then hit a little bit of a lull in the third set, but fortunately we were able to finish the match without going to a fourth set. I thought that Julie hit the ball really well for us tonight, and it was nice to get everyone involved in the action.”

The Lady Cougars will be back in action at home on Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m. when MVNU will host Ohio State University-Newark. OSU-Newark will then take on Marygrove (Mich.) College at 11:30 a.m. following by Marygrove versus the Lady Cougars at approximately 1:30 p.m.