CROOKSTON, Minn. - On the final day of the 2015 regular season, the University of Mary Volleyball team took on the University of Minnesota Crookston for one final rematch of the year for both teams.
 
The Marauders (13-16, 8-12 NSIC) dropped the first set of the match despite needing only one point to clinch, but rebounded with three straight wins through four sets to complete the season sweep of the Golden Eagles (8-20, 4-16 NSIC) at 29-31, 25-22, 25-20, and 25-23.
 
U-Mary held the early lead in set one at 5-2 thanks to kills from Paige Smith and Alexis Jacobs, a team block from the same duo, a Casey Reamann service ace, and a Golden Eagle error, to grab onto the momentum. Minnesota Crookston responded with a 6-2 run to retake the lead at 8-7 and matched the Marauders point-for-point en route to a 12-11 lead.
 
The Marauders brought the heat as they rallied off seven straight points from a two kills from Smith, one from Lauren Randall, a team block from Jacobs and Elizabeth Garcia, and three Minnesota Crookston errors for a big 18-12 lead midway through the set. The Golden Eagles took the heavy punch and countered with one of their own as they took nine of the next 10 points to retake the lead in dramatic fashion at 21-19.
 
U-Mary had the set in hand, however, as they fired off a 5-1 run off three Thayna Silva kills, another kill from Randall, and a kill from Garcia to put Minnesota Crookston on their heels at 24-22. The Golden Eagles wouldn't go away quietly, though, as they fired off two quick points to tie the set at 24-24 and got to set point with a 25-24 lead off a U-Mary error.
 
The teams traded points again at the way to a 29-29 score, but the Golden Eagles dealt the final blow of two quick kills to close the set at 31-29.
 
The second set started similar to how the first finished as the teams traded looks with U-Mary owning the 5-4 early lead. Minnesota Crookston appeared to have the momentum in their favor with a 6-1 run to go up 10-6 on the Marauders and matched each point en route to a 17-12 score favoring the home team.
 
The Marauders brought out the heavy hitters once again as they fired off a 9-2 run thanks to two kills from Smith, two from Silva, one each from Katelyn Olson and Freddie Campbell, to go with three Golden Eagle errors for a decisive 21-19 lead late in the set over Minnesota Crookston. The Golden Eagles stayed within one as U-Mary held a 23-22 lead, but Jacobs provided the finishing touches on the set with back-to-back kills for a final score of 25-22 that evened the match at one set apiece.
 
Minnesota Crookston seemingly had the offense in gear early in the third set with a commanding 7-2 lead, but the Marauders retaliated with a 7-1 run off two team blocks, with the pairs being Smith/Silva and Garcia/Silva, a solo block from Garcia, a kill from Jacobs, and three Golden Eagle errors to retake the lead at 9-8. The two teams continue to trade punches as neither could build a lead bigger than two points en route to a 19-19 tie late in the set.
 
The Marauders took advantage of some costly Minnesota Crookston errors at that point, as they rallied off a 6-1 run to close the set, first with a Silva kill followed by a Jacobs service ace, combined with a Golden Eagle set error, a Marauder service error, and another Golden Eagle set error, with Olson and Rachel Astrup combining for a team block and Astrup providing the exclamation point with a solo block to secure the third set at 25-20.
 
The fourth set started off with U-Mary owning a 9-7 lead early on, but the Golden Eagles came right back with five straight points to swing the lead back into their favor at 12-9. The team traded points yet again as U-Mary couldn't get over the proverbial hump with Minnesota Crookston owning a 17-15 lead midway through the set, but the Marauders finally broke through with a 7-2 run off two kills from Silva, one from Smith, a solo block from Jacobs, a team block from Randall and Garcia, and a Golden Eagle error to reclaim the lead at 22-19.
 
Minnesota Crookston kept the score close at 22-21, 23-22, and 24-23, but the Marauders would not be denied as Jacobs brought the hot hand with the final kill of the match to seal the 25-23 win in four sets.
 
Thayna Silva was one of four Marauders with double digit points as she led the offense with 16 kills on 45 attacks for a .267 hitting percentage, to go with four block assists and 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season, first since October 30 against the University of Sioux Falls.
 
Alexis Jacobs was right behind her with 14 kills and 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the season and fourth straight match with at least 10 kills; she also added one solo block, two block assists, one service ace and one assist on the afternoon.
 
Lauren Randall finished with 11 kills, her second straight match with double digit kills, to go with three digs and two block assists.
 
Paige Smith rounded out the quartet with 10 kills in her final volleyball match as a Marauder, to go with a .333 hitting percentage, four block assists and one assist.
 
Katelyn Olson and Janell Finkbeiner split time driving U-Mary's offense as Olson finished with 32 assists while Finkbeiner compiled 16. Olson also added two kills, five digs and two block assists, while Finkbeiner recorded four digs and one service ace.
 
Alex Brown set a new career-high with 34 digs in the match at a solid pace of 8.50 digs per set while also earning four assists; Casey Reamann helped her out when she could with 13 digs, one service ace and one assist.
 
Elizabeth Garcia provided the all-around effort with three kills, one solo block and three block assists while hitting at a .231 clip.
 
The Marauders have finished the regular season with the conference tournament set to begin the following week; only the top eight teams in conference will make the tournament.
 
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