KEARNEY, Neb. - Looking to build on their momentum from the first day of the Runza Fall Classic, the University of Mary Volleyball team took on the University of Illinois-Springfield and Chadron State College on the final day of the tournament.
 
The Marauders (5-4) had their best team performance on the year so far as they outlasted Illinois-Springfield (1-7) in five sets and carried that energy into the second match of the day and defeated Chadron State (1-7) in four sets, putting the cherry on top of a successful tournament run.
 
The first set against the Prairie Stars was eerily similar to the match against Northwestern Oklahoma State University on the first day, as the team traded points back and forth with a even count at 6-6 early in the set. Illinois-Springfield started to pull away from the Marauders with a 10-8 lead but U-Mary came right back with a four-point rush to take over the lead at 12-10. The Prairie Stars responded in kind with five unanswered points of their own to retake the lead at 15-12 but the Marauders kept the set interesting as they tied it on a 4-1 run and the team remained tied late at 18-18.
 
U-Mary started to pull away at 21-18 thanks to kills from Elizabeth Garcia and Lauren Randall, but knotted the score again at 21-21 and eventually took the lead at 24-23. The Marauders tried to keep the set going as Alexis Jacobs scored a kill to tie it up at 24-24, but the Prairie Stars still had the first match of the year in mind as they ended the first set on back-to-back kills to take the match lead at 26-24.
 
Set two turned out just the same as the teams traded points early on en route to U-Mary facing an 8-7 deficit, but the Prairie Stars jumped out to a 11-7 lead and kept the buffer at 14-12. The Marauders jumped ahead with a four unanswered points off kills from Garcia and Jacobs and two Illinois-Springfield errors and regained the lead at 16-14.
 
From there the teams stayed even with the score all tied up at 19-19, and the Marauders seemingly had the edge with another four-point run thanks to another Jacobs kill and a team block from Jacobs and Paige Smith along with two Prairie Stars errors and climbed to a 23-19 lead. Yet Illinois-Springfield fired off an impressive 7-1 run to turn the tables on the Marauders and took the second set at 26-24.
 
U-Mary would not be deterred, though, and set out for their second five-set win in as many days, and it started with the Marauders owning a decent lead at 10-8 in the third set.
 
The Prairie Stars turned into a tough battle as they took the lead back at 11-10 but the Marauders proved their resiliency as they fired off a quick 4-1 run to regain their advantage at 14-12. Illinois-Springfield was able to keep the score close from there but the Marauders methodically kept the lead at 16-14 and again at 20-17 as they slowly pulled away in the set.
 
U-Mary got to the set point as they held the lead at 24-21 and the Prairie Stars had one last offensive run in them with two quick points off a kill and a solo block, but Rachel Astrup took matters into her own hands and ended the run off a kill to give U-Mary the third set win at 25-23.
 
The fourth set became a tale of several runs as the Marauders had an early 5-1 swing in the set to take the lead at 5-3, but Illinois-Springfield came right back with a 5-1 run of their own en route to an 8-6 lead. U-Mary had another 5-1 run in them and took the lead back at 11-9 and after two quick points from the Prairie Stars, the Marauders added on another 5-1 run to keep the lead at 16-12. Illinois-Springfield was able to stay within two points at a 17-15 deficit, but the Marauders finally pulled away with a 4-1 run to increase their lead to 21-16.
 
It was now that the Prairie Stars gained some momentum with a 6-0 run to put the match dangerously close to the end with a 22-21 lead over the Marauders, but once again U-Mary proved to be the tougher team as they closed the set out on four straight points thanks to three Randall kills and a team block from Randall and Smith to tied the match at two sets apiece at 25-22.
 
So playing in their fifth set for the second day in a row, the Marauders needed to get to work to keep the momentum in their favor. Illinois-Springfield held the early lead at 6-4 but the Marauders came right back and took the lead at 7-6 and forced an even count at 8-8. By using every facet of their offense and defense, the Marauders closed out the set on a 7-1 run thanks to five kills and two team blocks to seal the fifth set at 15-9 and earn their fourth win on the year.
 
Jacobs led the offense with 24 kills, a career high, on a .286 hitting percentage, 11 digs, one solo block and one block assists; she also recorded her second double double of the year.
 
Randall finished the match with 15 kills, six digs and two block assists to supplement the offense.
 
Janell Finkbeiner paced the offense with her second 55-assist game and she also recorded a double double with 10 digs on the match.
 
Alex Brown anchored the back line with 27 digs and contributed to the offense with three assists and one service ace.
 
Smith was the first line of defense as she finished with five block assists and also added to the offense with seven kills on a .286 hitting percentage.
 
The final match of the tournament was against Chadron State and the Marauders have some history with the Eagles as both teams split their matches in the previous year.
 
U-Mary owned an early 5-4 lead in the first set against the Eagles, but Chadron State took the advantage with three straight points to swing the score back in their favor. The Marauders responded in kind with five straight points thanks to a Thayna Silva kill, a team block from Astrup and Randall, a Silva service ace, an Eagle attack error, and capped it off with a kill from Finkbeiner to take the lead back at 10-7.
 
Chadron State was able to tie it up at 10-10, yet the Marauders recorded five of the next six points to build a cushion at 15-11. U-Mary kept the lead at 21-15 and seemed ready to cruise to the first set win, but the Eagles had something else in mind as they tied the set at 22-22 off a 7-1 run thanks to a some defensive miscues from the Marauders and a well-balanced attack from Chadron State.
 
The set remained tied at 24-24 and the Marauders finally put the nail in the coffin with a kill from Smith and an Eagle error to take the first set at 26-24.
 
Chadron State held the early lead at 4-0 in the second set and would not allow the Marauders to get into a groove as they held a commanding 15-8 lead. U-Mary closed the gap at 15-12 thanks to clever play from Silva and Jacobs, but the Eagles would not surrender the lead and built up a 20-15 advantage.
 
The Marauders had another brief run with three quick points to narrow the margin at 21-19, but Chadron State held on tight and endured the attack as they eventually took the second set at 25-21.
 
Chadron State seemed to have the momentum early in the third set with a 4-1 lead, but U-Mary continued to showcase their resiliency with a 6-1 run that swung the score back into their favor at 7-5. The teams continued to match each other from there as the score remained tied at 17-17.
 
The Marauders started to pull away with a quick 4-1 run and a 21-18 lead, but Chadron State stayed right on their heels and within one point at 24-23. U-Mary finally said enough and Freddie Campbell provided the offensive spike to earn the kill and put the Marauders ahead in the match with a 25-23 win in the third set.
 
With the momentum finally in their favor, the Marauders five of the first six points in the fourth set and never looked back as they methodically built a cushion at 14-7. Chadron State tried to keep the set close but couldn't slow down U-Mary's attack with the Marauders eventually owning a 24-12 lead. The Eagles had one last gasp in them with two more kills but Elizabeth Garcia provided the final point of the day with a kill and the Marauders took the match at 25-14, capping off a successful 3-1 tournament run.
 
Silva provided the offensive spark with 19 kills on 41 attacks for a .317 hitting percentage. She also added eight digs, two service aces, one assist and one block assist.
 
Paige Smith was perfect on the match as she had 11 kills with no errors on 16 attacks and a blistering .688 hitting percentage. She was also a force on the net with five block assists.
 
Jacobs supplemented the offense with 11 kills, three service aces and five block assists, along with seven digs on the defensive end.
 
Finkbeiner continued to pace the offense with 49 assists, her fourth straight game with at least 40 assists, to go with nine digs and two block assists.
 
Alex Brown and Casey Reamann split time anchoring the back line as Brown finished with 14 digs and Reamann had 10 of her own.
 
The Marauders will return home on Thursday, September 17, for their conference home opener against Northern State University at 7:00 pm in the McDowell Activity Center.
 
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