MU Heads Into Regional Final With 3-1 Win
Crusaders down WHAC Rival Indiana Tech in semi-finals

Nov. 17, 2007

		Mary McGinnis (pictured) led MU with a career best 24 kills in the Crusaders' 3-1 win over Ind. Tech.

BOX SCORE

LIVONIA, Mich. – Madonna sophomore Mary McGinnis posted a career high 24 kills and Region VIII Player of the Year Lubovj Tihomirova backed McGinnis up with 19 kills of her own as the MU volleyball team defeated Indiana Tech 3-1 in the Region VIII semi-finals Saturday morning inside the Activities Center. Madonna moves on to the Regional final Saturday afternoon at 5pm.

MU (32-10) raced out to an 8-1 lead in the opening game, reeling off six points with Jacqui Gatt at the service line and forcing Tech to take a time out. The Madonna offense continued to click, extending the lead to as many as eight at 22-14 behind a McGinnis kill. The Crusaders got points 28 and 29 from the right arm of Tihomirova and a Tech attack error gave MU game point and a 30-18 win. The Crusaders held the Warriors (52-19) to a .065 hitting percentage in the opener, hitting at a .378 clip of their own.

Game two was just the opposite as Tech hit .289 and held MU to a .152 percentage and took an early 7-4 lead. Madonna had the early lead at 7-4 but Tech stayed close and took the lead at 10-9 on a Korinne Lewis kill. The two sides battled back and forth with neither side holding more than a three point edge until Tech jumped ahead 20-16. From there the Warriors never looked back, extending the lead to 26-19 and forcing Madonna head coach Jerry Abraham to call a time out. The time out did little to stem the Tech tide as the Warriors used a 4-2 run to close out game two and square the match at one game each with the 30-21 win.

The third game of the match saw IIT carry the momentum it gained in the second game into game three. The Warriors opened up a 5-2 lead and held a 13-9 edge before MU mounted the comeback trail and got the game to 14-13 on a Tihomirova kill, and then a Brynn Kerr ace tied the game at 14-all. Once again, the two sides battled back and forth as the third game saw seven ties and three lead changes, until Madonna took the lead for good at 27-25 on a McGinnis swing from the left side. Two Tech errors and another McGinnis kill gave the Crusaders the 30-26 win and a 2-1 edge in the match.

Game four was almost a carbon copy of game one as the Warriors hit at a .048 clip while the Crusaders hit .218. Madonna led from the outset, jumping out to an 11-5 lead and never looking back, using kills from the entire front line to take the game 30-22 and the match 4-1.

McGinnis led the MU offense with her 24 kills while Tihomirova and Whitney Fuelling joined her in double figures with 19 and 16 respectively. Inta Grinvalds dished out 57 assists while the NAIA Region VIII Libero of the Year Gatt posted 27 digs. Kerr also added 14 digs of her own for Madonna.

MU will take on the winner of Indiana Wesley and Bethel College at 5:30pm for the right to advance to the NAIA National Championship.

Contact:
Patrick Moore, Sports Information Director
(734) 432-5834