MOORHEAD, MN – Natalia Cruz twice reached double digits in kills on the opening day of the 2018 season to lead the University of Mary volleyball team to a split of two matches at the MSU Moorhead Microtel and Travelodge Classic in Moorhead, MN. The Marauders opened with a sweep of Western State College (25-12, 25-23, 27-25) before falling in a marathon match to MSU Billings 3-2 (25-27, 20-25, 25-19, 25-17, 15-13).
 
The Marauders jumped out to a commanding 7-1 lead in the first set of the day against the Mountaineers and never looked back, winning the set 25-12 in the head coaching debut of UMary's Korie Lebeda Tetzlaff. The Mountaineers put up a stronger fight in set two and three but the Marauders prevailed in both, winning the second set 25-23 and claiming the third 27-25 in a come-from-behind victory.
 


A sophomore, Cruz had a dominant performance for the Marauders. She posted a game high of ten kills with a .222 kill percentage. She added nine digs and two blocks to her impressive stat line.
 
Junior libero Breanna Donarski excelled for the Marauders on the back line, posting a game-high eleven digs.
 
Madison Bergthold was a force in the middle against Western State, posting four blocks (two solo) and six kills with a .500 kill percentage.
 
UMary closed out the day against Montana State University Billings. The Marauders came out strong, winning the first two sets but couldn't hold off the powerful surge of MSU Billings in the five-set loss.
 
The Marauders came out a little lethargic to start the first set, falling behind early 14-7 before fighting back to take the set 27-25. Set two was all Marauders as they took the lead early and held on throughout the remainder of the set. They clinched set two off of a block from Cruz and Bergthold to win 25-20.
 
Set three was a game of runs. The Yellowjackets started off hot, then the Marauders answered. This continued on throughout the set before MSUB got hot late to pull out a 25-19 win and stay alive. MSUB took control from the start in set four to win 25-17, leading to a very exciting fifth set.
 
The fifth set was a thriller with the teams matching each other point for point all the way up until the end. The Marauders just didn't have enough fire power to pull out the victory, dropping the last set 15-13 and moving their overall record to 1-1 on the season.
 
Coach Lebeda Tetzlaff iterated that she was very pleased with how her team performed in some areas and noticed other areas that need improvement, which, she stated, is to be expected going into the first games of the season.
 
The Marauders were led by a similar group in game two as they were in the day's opener. Cruz lead the team with 12 kills this game with Morgan Schnabel adding 11. Geovana Almeida (16), Breanna Donarski (15), and Sydney Murphey (11) all posted double digit digs. Madison Bergthold had a game-high with 5 blocks.
 
The Marauders look to improve on their record Saturday, August 24, as they take on South Dakota School of Mines & Technology at 9 am and tournament host Minnesota State University Moorhead at 5 pm.
 
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