LIVONIA, Fla. -- The ninth-ranked Madonna volleyball team moved into first place in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference standings after a 3-1 win over Michigan-Dearborn on Tuesday night at the Activities Center.

The Crusaders were paced by sophomore outside hitter Lubovj Tihomirova (Riga, Latvia/Rigas Gymnasia HS), who posted a game high 22 kills and a .372 hitting percentage.

The Madonna defensive effort was led by Whitney Fuelling's (Highland, MI/Milford HS) 17 digs.  Junior libero Jacqui Gatt (Livonia, MI/Churchill HS) added 11 digs and three service aces for the Crusaders.

Michigan-Dearborn forced nine attacking errors by Madonna in the first game en route to a 30-22 win.

The Crusaders returned to the court in game two with a purpose, jumping out to an 8-2 lead before the Wolves called timeout.  Madonna kept applying pressure the UM-Dearborn defense, stretching their lead to 17 points and winning the second game 30-13, following the strength of a 22-11 run.  The Crusaders would also rebound in game two with no attacking errors.

Game three saw Madonna again jump out to a large advantage at 12-4 before the Wolves fought back to close the gap to just two points, 20-18.  The Crusaders immediately responded with a 10-1 run which closed out the third game, 30-19, in favor of MU.

The fourth game start was similar to games two and three when Madonna held a 5-0 advantage.  The Crusaders would lengthen their led to 10 points (26-16) forcing the Wolves into a timeout.  Following the brief stoppage of play, Madonna would stretch their lead as much as 12 points (20-8) before holding on to a 30-23 decision for the match.

As a team, the Crusaders posted a .271 hitting percentage and eight service aces.  UM-Dearborn was limited to just a .072 hitting percentage while MU recorded 10 total blocks and 43 digs on the night.

With the win Madonna improves to 20-2 overall and 4-0 in league play.  UM-Dearborn drops to 12-7 overall and 4-1 in the WHAC.  The Crusaders will return to action on Friday night at Georgetown College (KY) at 7:00 p.m. in the opening game of a weekend tri-match.