Crusaders Down Wayne
State in Season Opener
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Sophomore Lubovj
Tihomirova recorded 18 kills in MU's three game victory
Thursday. |
8/24/2006
BOX SCORE
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PHOTO GALLERY |
ABRAHAM INTERVIEW
LIVONIA,
Mich. --
The Madonna
volleyball team opened up the 2006 season with a 3-0 victory over NCAA Division
II foe Wayne State on Thursday night at the Activities Center.
The fifth-ranked Crusaders (1-0) won in straight games by scores of 30-23, 33-31 and 30-23.
"Wayne State is coming off a very good season," said Madonna head coach
Jerry
Abraham. "They are very athletic team and we made a fair amount of
mistakes, but aggressive mistakes. I'm very happy with the win tonight,
because there are a lot of things we can build upon."
Lubovj Tihomirova (Riga, Latvia/Rigas Classic HS) paced the Crusaders
offensively with 18 kills in 31 attempts.
Freshman setter
Inta Grinvalds (Portage, MI/Portage Central HS) posted 39
assists in her collegiate debut for Madonna.
"It was a lot for Inta to digest tonight, being in her first game," said
Abraham. "But what she did best tonight was play very well when the
pressure was on and the score was tight."
Both
Whitney Fuelling (Highland, MI/Milford HS) and
Caryn Inman (Oxford,
MI/Oxford HS) posted double digit kills with 17 and 16 kills respectively.
Junior libero
Jacqui Gatt (Livonia, MI/Churchill HS) led the Crusaders on the
defensive end with 20 digs in a winning effort.
Madonna and Wayne State (0-1) played a tight first game before the Crusaders took a
one game lead, 30-23.
In game two, the Crusaders jumped out to a 9-1 lead before Wayne State fought
back to claim a 24-23 advantage. After consecutive kills by Tihomirova,
Madonna retook the lead and went on to win 33-31.
The Crusaders fell behind in the third game and trailed by as many as four, 9-5,
before overtaking the Warriors and winning the final game, 30-23.
Madonna will return to action on Friday, competing in the UM-Dearborn Early Bird
Tournament at 3:30 p.m. against Spring Arbor.
Contact:
Tony Baldwin, Sports Information Director
(734) 432-5834
tbaldwin@madonna.edu
