Women’s volleyball team wins twice at #MarissaStrong Tournament

GALESBURG, Ill. – The Olivet College volleyball team won two matches today at the 2018 #MarissaStrong Tournament, hosted by Knox (Ill.) College in Galesburg, Illinois. The Comets swept Westminster (Mo.) in three sets before rallying to beat the host Prairie Fire in a thrilling five-set match. Olivet now has an 8-5 overall record to surpass last year's win total.

Final Score: Olivet def. Westminster 25-22, 25-19, 25-12
Location: Memorial Gym; Galesburg, Ill.
Records: Olivet 7-5 overall, Westminster 6-3 overall

• There was 10 tied scores to start the first set. Trailing 13-11, the Comets went on a 6-0 run to go up 17-13. The Blue Jays closed the gap to a single point twice, 17-16 and 20-19, but was never able to take the lead back.
• The second set was similar to the first, with seven tied scores. After the last one at 13-13, Olivet scored five straight points to take an 18-13 lead. The Comets maintained their lead for the remainder of the set.
• An Olivet ace was the first point of the third set. The Comets did not trail for the rest of the set, with the 13-point margin at the end being its largest lead.

• Junior Brittney Prince registered a team-leading nine kills.
• Junior Madelyn Notenbaum nearly had a triple double with eight kills, 15 set assists and 10 digs.
• Junior Morgan Champion and freshman Jordyn Emelander tallied seven kills apiece.
• Junior libero Gabrielle Mundt notched a team-high 18 digs.

• Sarah Rivers topped the team with eight kills.
• Madisyn Matthews tallied 15 set assists.
• Bridget Ringwald had 13 digs.

Final Score: Olivet def. Knox 25-15, 21-25, 19-25, 25-17, 15-10
Location: Memorial Gym; Galesburg, Ill.
Records: Olivet 8-5 overall, Knox 4-8 overall

• The Comets scored the first point of the first set and never looked back.
• The Prairie Fire led by three points, 14-11, in the second set. Olivet battled back to take a 16-14 lead. Knox answered with a 6-2 run for a 20-18 lead. The Comets responded with three consecutive points to take the lead back 21-20. From there, the Prairie Fire scored the final five points of the set to win it, 25-21.
• Knox opened the third set with a five-point advantage, 10-5. Olivet did not give up and came back to take a two-point lead on three occasions. After the last time at 15-13, the teams traded points to result in a 17-17 deadlock. The Prairie Fire put four consecutive points on the scoreboard to go ahead 21-17. The Comets did not recover from that deficit.
• In the fourth set, Knox led 2-0 until Olivet scored three straight points for a 3-2 lead. The Comets maintained their lead for the rest of the set, winning it 25-17 to force a fifth set.
• There were seven tied scores to start the deciding set. Following the final one at 8-8, Olivet ended the set on a 7-2 run to win it 15-10.

• Champion slammed down a match-high 18 kills, while Prince had 14.
• Notenbaum had a triple-double in this match with 10 kills, 24 set assists and 12 digs.
• Mundt collected 25 digs.
• Freshman Abigail Pray finished with 23 set assists.

• Autumn Schneider recorded 13 kills.
• Kylie Wolf had 20 set assists.
• Mady Ferris led all players with 37 digs.

• Olivet opens Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play against Kalamazoo College next Tuesday, Sept. 18. First serve inside The Cutler Event Center in Olivet is slated for 7 p.m.