The University of Mary Marauders

MANKATO, Minn. - Rounding out both the weekend and a two-week tour of Minnesota, the University of Mary Volleyball team took on Minnesota State University to continue their conference schedule.
 
It turned into another rough outing for the Marauders (8-10, 3-6 NSIC) as they struggled to slow another potent offense coming from the Mavericks (12-5, 6-3 NSIC) in a straight-set loss.
 
The first set started out on the wrong foot for U-Mary as Minnesota State opened up a 9-3 lead early on, but the Marauders seemingly had a response as they took advantage of two Maverick errors to go with an Alex Brown service ace to close in at 10-6.
 
Minnesota State would not be slowed, however, as they methodically built up a 17-7 lead and essentially matched the Marauders point-for-point en route to a 25-16 win in the first set.
 
U-Mary got the offense going early in the second set as they fought for a 4-3 lead early on thanks to a Maverick error, a Rachel Astrup kill, an Elizabeth Garcia kill, and a team block from Garcia and Freddie Campbell, but the Mavericks rallied off a 6-1 run to grab onto the lead at 9-5.
 
The Marauders kept the score close as Campbell and Garcia provided the offensive effort en route to a 9-7 score favoring the Mavericks, but Minnesota State fired off a devastating 9-1 run to open up the lead at 18-8 midway through the set. The outburst proved too much for U-Mary to handle as the Mavericks again held onto the cushion and took the second set at 25-16.
 
The third set started out the same with Minnesota State again holding a 9-5 lead, but this time it was U-Mary's turn to fire off the big rally with two Lauren Randall kills, three Minnesota State errors, and a Katelyn Olson service ace to latch onto the lead at 11-10 for the Marauders.
 
Minnesota State responded to the challenge as they traded points with the Marauders until the score read 15-14 in favor of the Mavericks, but U-Mary once again found a rhythm with a 4-1 run off a Randall kill, a Garcia kill, a team block from Garcia and Olson, and a Maverick error to retake the lead at 18-16.
 
The Mavericks proved their resiliency as they responded with a 5-1 run to swing the lead back into their favor at 21-19 and the Marauders stayed within one point near the end at 23-22 in favor of Minnesota State.
 
Unfortunately, the offense hit a wall and the Mavericks took the final set on a kill and a service ace to clinch the set at 25-22 and sent U-Mary packing without a win for the second week in a row.
 
Freddie Campbell led the Marauders on the offensive end as she finished with eight kills on 15 attacks for a .400 hitting percentage, to go with one dig and one block assist.
 
Elizabeth Garcia was active on all ends of the floor with seven kills, a .385 hitting percentage, two block assists and one dig on the night.
 
Thayna Silva continued her activity on the offense with seven kills and aided the back line with eight digs.
 
Lauren Randall had a hand in every phase as well with six kills, one block assist and five digs in the match.
 
Katelyn Olson spent time as the primary driver of the offense as she ended with 22 assists to go with one service ace, one block assist and one dig on the evening.
 
The Marauders return to Bismarck next Friday, October 16, when they host Upper Iowa University at the McDowell Activity Center at 7:00 PM for the start of their annual Dig Pink Weekend.
 
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