BISMARCK, ND –
Judith Burke and a diverse offensive attack lifted the University of Mary to a split of a pair of 5-set matches on the second day of the Marauders First Serve Invitational. Buke terminated 18 balls as the Marauders finished the day with a win over Black Hills State University, one of five UMary players to reach double digit kills in the match. The Marauders had dropped a 5-set match earlier in the day to Bemidji State University.
The final day of the Marauders First Serve Invitational is Saturday, August 29, with four games at the McDowell Activity Center beginning at 9 am. The Marauders, now 2-1 on the season, closes out the season-opening tournament with a 5 pm non-conference match against Western New Mexico University.
GAME ONE | Bemidji State 3 University of Mary 2
After rallying for a win in the opening game of the Marauders First Serve Invitational on Wednesday, the University of Mary was unable to rally for a second straight match in a 3-2 (25-15, 23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-11) loss to visiting Bemidji State University.
After a hot-hitting Beavers team snared the first set, the Marauders evened the match by claiming set two 25-23. Leading by as many as seven points, UMary held off a late rally by their Northern Sun counterpart as a
Dani Highum kill produced the final point of the set for the Marauders.
The Marauders continued to chase sets as the Beavers captured the third 25-19. UMary again rose to the challenge, holding off a late BSU run to claim set four 25-23 and force a winner-take-all fifth set.
An early 5-0 run for the visitors put the Beavers in the driver's seat. The Marauders pulled within 13-11 before BSU closed out the win by scoring the final two points of the match.
A trio of Marauders hit double digits for kills.
Gabrielle Reynolds hammered home 13 kills and hit .333 for the match to lead the Marauders attack.
Judith Burke added 11 kills and Highum 10. Highum also had 14 digs for a double double.
UMary hit .200 for the match with
Natalie Boehmer distributing 39 assists.
Ella Kratochvil posted a match-best 21 kills for BSU, hitting .429. Ava Athlam and Nevaeh Carlson add 11 kills and Madison Tripp produced 48 assists.
GAME 2: UMary 3 Black Hills State 2 (16-25, 25-16, 25-20, 19-25, 15-9)
Judith Burke rained down 18 kills on the Yellow Jackets, one of five Marauders to reach double digits in a 5-set win over Black Hills State. UMary recorded 61 kills and hit .271 while limiting BHSU to 50 kills and a .216 attack percentage in the Marauders second five-set match of the day.
Burke, who had 11 kills in the first match of the day also had five digs and two block assists.
UMary middle blockers
Holli Klettheimer and
Ruby Rengo were devastating. A freshman, Rengo hit .533 with 11 kills and two block assists. Klettheimer posted 10 kills and a .471 attack percentage. She also had two aces.
Gabbie Reynolds also had 11 kills and hit .429 while
Dani Highum terminated 11 balls with four aces. She had a team-leading 21 digs.
Natalie Boehmer joined Highum with a double double after dishing out 55 assists and digging ten balls.
UMary got out to another slow start, dropping the first set for the third straight match. The Marauders completely reversed fortunes in set two with a 25-16 win. The Marauders followed with a win in set three to claim leadership. The Yellow Jackets broke open a close fourth set by scoring 7-of-8 points to take a 21-15 lead before eventually forcing a fifth frame.
In the fifth set, a kill by Klettheimer sparked an 8-1 run to snag a 13-6 advantage. A short time later, Rengo delivered the final kill of the set and match in the Marauders win.
Carsyn Mettler led the Yellow Jackets with 14 kills and Izzy Saiki added 11.
MARAUDERS FIRST SERVE INVITATIONAL RESULTS
Day 1: Thursday, August 27
University of Mary 3 MSU Billings 1
Day 2: Friday, August 28
Bemidji State 3 Western New Mexico 1
Black Hills State 3 MSU Billings 0
Bemidji State 3 UMary 2
MSU Billings 3 Western New Mexico 1
UMary 3 Black Hills State 2
Day 3: Saturday, August 29
9 am MSU Billings vs. Bemidji State
11:30 am Black Hills State vs. Western New Mexico
2:30 pm Bemidji State vs. Black Hills State
5 pm UMary vs. Western New Mexico
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