Women’s volleyball team upended by Alma in four sets

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College volleyball team was upended by Alma College in four sets in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) match tonight inside the Cutler Event Center in Olivet. The Scots won by scores of 23-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-22.

Final Score: Alma def. Olivet 23-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-22
Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
Records: Olivet 13-9 overall, 2-4 MIAA; Alma 16-9 overall, 5-2 MIAA

• The Scots scored the first point of the opening set before the Comets went on a 5-0 run. Olivet maintained its lead until Alma tied the score at 8-8. From there, the Comets used another 5-0 scoring spurt to go ahead 13-8. Olivet eventually built a pair of six-point leads. The Scots fought back to trim their deficit down to a point at 24-23. A kill by senior Madelyn Notenbaum ended the set in the Comets' favor.
• Olivet raced out to two five-point leads early in the second set. After the last one at 8-3, Alma scored seven of the next eight points on the scoreboard to take its first lead, 10-9. The teams traded points to create tied scores at 10-10 and 11-11. The Scots then went on an 8-0 run and never looked back in winning the set by a 25-15 score.
• The Scots opened the third set with a 6-3 advantage. The Comets responded with a 6-1 run to go up 9-7. Nine straight Alma points made the score 16-9. Olivet came back and cut their deficit down to two points, 22-20. The Scots scored the final three points of the set.
• The Comets led by four points, 6-2, early in the fourth set. Olivet held a four-point cushion two more times. Alma rallied back to take its first lead, 11-10. The teams traded 3-0 runs to keep the one-point Scot lead, 14-13. The Comets did not give up and tied the score twice at 14-14 and 16-16. Alma scored the next point before extending its lead to four points, 23-19. Two Olivet kills and a double block at the net made the score 23-22 and forced the Scots to call a timeout. Alma put the final two points on the scoreboard to win the set.

• Freshman Ellie Louiselle topped Olivet with 12 kills.
• Senior Morgan Champion finished with 11 kills.
• Notenbaum, and juniors Laken Groll and Audrey Lama each had eight kills.
• Making her first collegiate start at the setter position, freshman Kennedy Blackburn dished out a team-best 24 set assists.
• Sophomore Abigail Pray added 18 set assists.
• Senior libero Gabrielle Mundt led the defense with 21 digs.

• Sarah Majerle led all players with 17 kills and tallied a team-best 15 digs.
• Haley Ullrich had nine kills.
• Haley Novak dished out 39 set assists and was second with 12 digs.

• The Comets play a tri-match Saturday at Defiance (Ohio) College. The Comets face Transylvania (Ky.) University at 3 p.m., followed by a match against the host Yellow Jackets.