MVNU (10-3), which jumped into the NAIA poll at No. 25 on Tuesday afternoon, got off to a good start in the match as the Lady Cougars built an early 8-1 lead in the first set with senior outside hitter Julie Haumschild leading the way with two kills.

After the visiting Lady Panthers (6-3) closed to with 15-11 and 19-15, two kills each by Haumschild and sophomore middle hitter Gina Porto helped MVNU expand its lead back out to 24-19. Then, freshman setter Lauren Percival served up an ace to close out the set 25-19.

In the second set, the Lady Cougars took an early 9-3 advantage after allowing the first point of the set as junior middle hitter Sarah Yutzy pounded three kills and junior outside hitter Jackie Albrecht (left) and junior libero Caitlin Myles also served up an ace apiece.

After Ohio Dominican closed the gap to 11-7, MVNU pulled away for the 25-13 victory as Yutzy finished with four kills in the set.

Needing to win just one more set to take the match, the Lady Cougars fell behind 4-0 to start the third set as things began to get a little interesting.

After MVNU rattled off four straight points to knot the match at 4-4, the teams began to exchange points as neither team would hold more than a three-point lead the rest of the way.

Trailing 10-8, the Lady Cougars put together their biggest run of the set as they scored five straight points to take a 13-10 advantage as Albrecht and Porto smashed two kills apiece.

The Lady Panthers always seemed to have an answer, though as they held leads of 18-17, 20-19, and 21-20 before a kill each by Porto and freshman right-side hitter Kaylee Hewitt gave MVNU the lead 22-21.

A pair of sideouts and a block by Yutzy and Haumschild gave the Lady Cougars a 24-22 lead. After another sideout, Yutzy pounded a kill to win the set 25-23 and take the match.

Albrecht, Yutzy, and Porto all finished with 10 kills apiece with Albrecht posting 15 digs and Yutzy finishing with three blocks. Senior setter Kaylin Austen handed out 37 assists with 10 digs, while junior libero Caitlin Myles led the team with 17 digs and two aces. Hewitt added five kills and eight digs, and Percival also served up two aces to go with seven digs.

“I was very pleased with our effort and consistency tonight,” said MVNU coach Paul Swanson. “(Ohio Dominican) is a very good team and they played well tonight. We just did a better job in the back row defensively and also at the service line and that was the difference in the match.”

“Jackie and Caitlin were outstanding in the back row tonight,” Swanson added. “They passed every ball that came their way. I thought Sarah also had a really nice match, and Kaylee did a great job as she filled in for (injured senior right-side hitter) Courtney (Springer). Gina and Julie were effective at the net, Kaylin set a nice match, and Lauren did a good job in the back row and serving. All in all, a very solid performance for our team.”

The Lady Cougars will look to continue to play well when MVNU travels to Georgetown (Ky.) College for the Lady Tiger Invitational this weekend. The Lady Cougars will face Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) University at 7:00 p.m. on Friday before taking on Calumet College of Saint Joseph (Ind.) at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday and host and No. 6 ranked Georgetown at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.