SEWARD, NE – Senior Lauren Randall had a smashing season debut for the University of Mary, contributing 51 kills in two games to lead the Marauders to a split on the final day of the Bulldog Bash. UMary opened with a four-set win over Missouri Southern State University (26-24, 17-25, 31-2, 25-17) before Chadron State College edged the Marauders 3-1 (25-22, 11-25, 25-20, 25-10).
 
After missing the opening day of the season for academic orientation for her degree program at UMary, Randall caught up to her teammates for the second day of the tournament and made an immediate impact. She terminated 28 balls in the win over the Lions, just missing her career-high of 31, set last season. The native of Burnsville, MN, followed up with 23 kills against the Eagles.
 
The Marauders opened the day against the Lions in what proved to be a marathon match as two sets went to extra points. Despite leading by as many as seven, the Marauders trailed 24-21 before mounting a comeback, reeling off five straight points for a 26-24 win. Randall started the rally with a kill. With Freddie Campbell serving, the Lions committed hitting errors on the next two serves before another Randall kill put UMary up 25-24. The set ended when Amanda Lopes and Rachel Comme-Vargas combined for a block of the Lions offensive attempt.
 
The Lions evened the match by claiming the second set. Mary then won an epic third set to take control of the game. Fighting off five Lions serves for a chance to end the set, the Marauders serve receive stayed strong before a kill from Madison Bergthold gave the Marauders a chance for the win. The Lions then mishandled a set attempt to give the Marauders a 2-1 lead in the game.
 
UMary rolled in the fourth set to capture the win, using a 9-point run featuring three aces by Katja Berge.
 
In addition to her 28 kills, Randall also had eight digs and two aces. Anna Nietfeld registered her first double double with 12 kills and 10 digs. It was her third straight game with double digit kills. Lopes also had a double double with 55 assists and 11 digs. Geovana Almeida added a team-high 19 digs.
 
Janelle Brehm led MSSU with 14 kills.
 
The Marauders couldn't find their groove against the Eagles, who posted eight team blocks and limited UMary to a hitting percentage of .158. The two teams split the first two sets with the Marauders taking the second stanza 25-11 after exploding to a 13-3 lead.
 
The Eagles eventually held off the Marauders comeback try, taking the final two sets 25-20 and 25-10.
 
In another powerful outing, Randall had 23 kills with a .327 attack percentage. She added four digs and three block assists. Overall the Marauders had just 21 total kills. Lopes chipped in 35 assists, two aces and seven digs.
 
Andi Dowell led CSC with 13 kills and 12 digs.
 
The Marauders (2-2 overall) next host Valley City State University on Tuesday, Sept. at 1 pm in the UMary home opener.
 
#marauders#