Women’s Volleyball: Olivet wins three-set thriller over Saint Mary’s

OLIVET, Mich. –The University of Olivet women's volleyball team won a thrilling three-set match over Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Saint Mary's (Ind.) College tonight at the Cutler Event Center.

• Final Score: Olivet defeated Saint Mary's 25-23, 25-17, 34-32
• Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 12-11 overall, 3-3 MIAA; Saint Mary's 5-12 overall, 1-5 MIAA

• The Comets trailed 3-0 to start the first set. Olivet erased the deficit with a kill by senior Olivia DuFore and two aces by sophomore Jaydn Cary. A Belle attack error gave the lead to the Comets. Saint Mary's evened the score before three straight Olivet points – two kills and an attack error – made the score 7-4. The Comets maintained their lead until the Belles used a 4-0 run to turn a 10-7 deficit into an 11-10 lead. Olivet tied the score twice at 11-11 and 12-12. Saint Mary's put together a 5-1 spurt to go up by four points, 17-13.
• The Comets countered with a 5-0 run on four kills (two by junior Abi Nunez, one by DuFore and one by senior Morgan Dillon) and double block by Dillon and Nunez at the net to go up 18-17. The Belles responded by leveling the score on three occasions before going ahead 20-19. A service error tied the score before an Olivet attack error put Saint Mary's ahead 21-20. A kill by Nunez leveled the score. Saint Mary's answered with two points for a 23-21 lead. The Comets took advantage of four attack errors for the Belles for a come-from-behind 25-23 win.
• The teams went point-for-point early in the second set. With the score knotted at 9-9, DuFore slammed the ball down for a kill to put Cary at the service line. Three straight aces for Cary pushed Olivet's advantage to 13-9. Saint Mary's scored the next two points to close the gap to two points. A 5-0 Comet run helped them go up by seven points, 18-11. Olivet maintained the lead for the rest of the set, winning it by a 25-17 score.
• The Comets raced out to a 10-3 lead in the third set. The Belles chipped away at their deficit and eventually went ahead by three points, 17-14. Saint Mary's went ahead one more time by three, 19-16. A kill by Dillon, double contact by the Belles' setter and ace by junior Maddie Reynolds tied the score at 19-19. From there, the teams traded points to create tied scores at 20-20, 21-21, 22-22, 23-23, 24-24, with the Comets scoring the point to even the score.
• A Saint Mary's attack error evened the score at 25-25. A kill by DuFore got Olivet to set and match point but the Belles saved the point with a kill and ace to get to point. A kill by Dillon followed by a push kill by Reynolds made the score 28-27. Saint Mary's responded with back-to-back kills to go up 29-28. Another kill for Dillon evened the score. With a kill, senior Emily Keeler put the Comets ahead 30-29. A service error tied the score at 30-30.
• The teams exchanged kills to make the score 31-31. Saint Mary's went ahead with a kill. Junior Jaelyn Hampton blocked the next Belle attack to tie the set. DuFore got a kill to make the score 33-32. Another Hampton solo block handed the set and match to the Comets.

• For the match, Olivet had 45 kills and a .186 attack percentage compared to 42 kills and .177 percentage for Saint Mary's. The Comets also served five more aces, 9 to 4.
• DuFore finished with a match-high 17 kills.
• Dillon had nine kills, followed by Nunez with seven.
• Junior Teagan Giannunzio dished out 32 set assists.
• Cary tallied a team-leading 23 digs and seven aces. The seven aces equal the three-set match school record and are tied for the second-most in a match regardless of number sets played.
• Hampton had three solo and three assisted blocks.

• The Comets are off until next Wednesday, November 1, when they host Hope College at 6:30 p.m.