BISMARCK, ND – The University of Mary volleyball team returned to their winning ways tonight against the University of Minnesota Crookston. The Marauders put on an electrifying performance in front an energetic crowd. UMary would be led by spectacular performances by all the athletes on the court tonight with each one making crucial contributions to the big win. The Marauders would post a dominate win in four sets (25-23, 15-25, 25-20, 26-24) to give the parents of the athletes a show on parents night.
 
With the win the Marauders improve to 4-21 on the season and 1-16 in NSIC play.
 
The Marauders would start out sluggish in the first set falling behind 5-0 but a 6-1 run by the Marauders behind the serving of Morgan Schnabel would even things up at six a piece. UMary and UMC would then go back and forth exchanging point for point with neither team being able to pull away. That was until the Marauders received two big kills by Julianna Kari and Morgan Schnabel to clinch the first set 25-23. The Marauders were led by Katja Berge who recorded an impeccable 9 kills in the first set of play.
 
UMary would once again start the second set slow, falling behind by a score of 4-0 but in this set the Marauders would not be able to rally dropping set two by a score of 25-15 to even the score up 1-1.
 
The Marauders, determined not to have another slow start jumped out to an early lead behind the serving of Schnabel and the attacking of Berge. The Golden Eagles would battle back to make the match another back and forth thriller until the Marauders were able to rally together a 5-1 run to clinch the set 25-20. The Marauders would take a 2-1 lead with this set victory.
 
UMary came out energized by the crowd in the fourth set determined to get their first victory on the home court this season. The Marauders would jump out to a dominant start taking a 20-14 lead. The Golden Eagles would battle their way back into the match tying it up at 24 a piece making for a thrilling end. Berge would end the game the same way she started it, on fire. She would blast home a kill to put the Marauders up 25-24. She then would head to the service line for her first serve of the night and would strategically place the ball for an ace to give the Marauders the win 26-24.
 
"It always feels good to get a win. We are coming off our best week of practice so far and it was good to see us carry over what we worked on.  That was the best part for us." stated Head Coach, Korie Lebeda Tetzlaff  "We get to celebrate tonight and then come ready to battle again tomorrow."
 
Katja Berge recorded a game high and season high of 18 kills. The sophomore standout would also record an impressive .293 hitting percentage throughout the match.
 
Morgan Schnabel would post a double-double for the Marauders recording 14 kills and 14 digs on the day.
 
Julianna Kari and Julianna Hughes would each record six kills on the night and post some very impressive hitting percentages. Hughes would post a .308 and Kari would post a .313.
 
The whole match was run through the Marauders setters Sydney Murphy and Brittany Brusven who recorded a combined 48 assists. Murphy would set the team high with 25 but Brusven would be closely behind with 23 assists on the game.
 
Natalia Cruz would continue to dominate at her new position of libero recording a game high of 18 digs.
 
Geovana Almeida would record 13 digs of the night. The lone senior on the Marauders would break the 800 career digs milestone with her performance tonight. Almeida would also record a game high of two aces.
 
UMary looks to continue their winning ways against the Bemidji State Beavers tomorrow. The Marauders will host the Beavers at 11 am in the McDowell Activity Center. UMary will honor their lone senior Geovana Almeida as she plays her last home game of her Marauders career.
 
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