Volleyball team sweeps Adrian, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23

ADRIAN, Mich. – The Olivet College volleyball team swept Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Adrian College in three sets tonight at the Merillat Center in Adrian. The Comets won by scores 25-20, 25-20 and 25-23.

Olivet used a balanced attack at the net to pull out the win, hitting at a .202 clip. Junior Emma Brann (Ann Arbor/Pioneer) led the way with 13 kills, followed by senior Tina Westendorp (Nashville/Maple Valley) with eight. Freshman Cassie Brown (Lansing/Lansing Catholic) had seven kills, while sophomore Marissa Guile (Williamston) and senior Stefanie Lang (Valparaiso, Ind.) each had six. Brann hit a team-best .476 with only three errors on 21 attempts.

Freshman Danielle Bearden (Goodrich) and junior Taylor Pringle (Haslett) dished out 18 set assists apiece. Westendorp led the back row with 18 digs, while senior Megan VanderVlucht (McBain) finished with 15 digs.

The Comets raced out to a 6-0 lead in the opening set before the Bulldogs battled back to tie it at 9-9. Olivet scored the next point and did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the set. The five-point win was the Comets' biggest lead of the set.

Olivet led the second set from wire-to-wire. The Comets led by as many as eight points on three occasions, 21-13, 22-14 and 23-15. Olivet had a lead for almost the entire third set. Adrian got as close as one point three times, 21-20, 22-21 and 24-23, at the end of the set before a Bulldog attack error was the difference at the end of the match.

The Comets will travel to Franklin (Ind.) College tomorrow to participate in a triangular. They will play the host Grizzlies at 4 p.m., followed by a match against Earlham (Ind.) College.