COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Madonna volleyball team dropped the opening match of the 2006 NAIA National Tournament after Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) knocked off the sixth-ranked Crusaders 3-2 (25-30, 30-23, 30-26, 27-30, 12-15) in pool play action on Wednesday afternoon at the Southwell Complex on the campus of Columbia College.

Caryn Inman (Oxford, Mich./Oxford HS) paced the Crusaders with 26 kills.

SCAD's Christina Payne provided the Bees with a triple-double in the opening match, recording 27 kills, 25 digs and 12 total blocks. 

The Bees claimed the first game of the match with a 30-25 decision.  SCAD led by as much as eight points (19-11) in the opening frame before holding on to the five-point win.

The Crusaders opened game two with a 13-7 advantage before SCAD called a timeout.  Following the brief break in action, MU tacked on three more points behind the strength of freshman Abby Long's (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte HS) serving efforts, which helped MU reel off nine consecutive points in all.

SCAD would cut the lead to five points (20-15) but Madonna was again able to stretch the advantage to nine (24-15).  SCAD would cut into the lead late in the second game but with MU holding the advantage Inman found the middle of the Bees defense on a terminating kill off the backset of Inta Grinvalds (Portage, Mich./Portage Central HS) which allowed MU to tie the match at a game a piece.

The Bees jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the third game and eventually stretched their advantage to six points, forcing MU head coach Jerry Abraham to call a timeout.  The Crusaders would then go on a 15-9 run, capped off by a kill by sophomore outside hitter Lubovj Tihomirova (Riga, Latvia/Rigas Gymnasia HS), which tied the match at 19-19.  Madonna would finally grab the lead in the second game and the blocking duo of Grinvalds and fellow classmate Alex Prieditis (Highland, Mich./Milford HS) allowed the Crusaders to claim a two-point lead (22-20).  The Crusaders would close out the game with an 8-6 run (30-26) to take a 2-1 match advantage.

In game four, both teams traded points early on with neither team able to hold more than a one-point lead.  With the scored tied at 11-11, SCAD started a run that would eventually lead to a four-point advantage (21-17) and force MU into a timeout.  Freshman Natalie Niblock (White Pigeon, Mich./White Pigeon HS) entered the match and proceeded to lead the Crusaders back into the game to tie at 23-23 following a service ace.  The two teams again played a back-and-forth match which saw the lead change hands three more times before the Bees claimed a 27-26 advantage and then closed out the game on a 4-1 run (30-27).

With the match tied at 2-2, SCAD's bid for a second consecutive opening match upset in the NAIA National Tournament held true after the Bees opened the fifth game with a 6-2 lead.  SCAD would stretch their lead in the final frame to five points (11-6) before Madonna's final attempt to mount a comeback.  The Crusaders were able to string together a 7-3 run, which was capped off by back-to-back kills by sophomore Whitney Fuelling (Milford, Mich./Milford HS) that pulled MU within two points (14-12).  However, SCAD put an end to all thoughts of an opening match win for Madonna after closing out the match with the final point of the day.

The Crusaders still have hope in advancing through pool play with two more matches on Thursday.  Madonna will take on the College of St. Mary (NE) at 10:00 a.m. (ET) at Stephens College before closing out pool play with a match at 8:15 p.m. (ET) against fifth-ranked Dickinson State (ND).