SAN DIEGO, Mich. -- The
No. 4 ranked Madonna University volleyball
team saw their school record 48-match win streak come to
a close Friday with a 3-1 (30-20,
16-30, 28-30, 21-30) loss to No. 2
National American (S.D.) in
pool play action Friday (December 2, 2005) at the NAIA National
Championships.Senior
Laura Lesko (Wyandotte,
Mich../Wyandotte) led
the team with 21 kills,
hitting .514 in the match, while senior
Natalja Tinina (Riga,
Latvia./Purvicems)
added 15 kills and senior setter
Ashley Frost (Lake
Odessa, Mich./Lakewood) added
44 assists.
The loss drops Madonna to
47-1 on the season and 3-1 in the
NAIA pool play format, while
National American moves to
40-2 overall record and is also
3-1 in pool C. The Crusaders and Mavericks
both advance to the quarterfinal round with the Crusaders garnering the
second seed and a match up with Texas Wesleyan, the pool D winner, who
boasts a 34-4 record and are undefeated mark at this year's tournament.
The Crusaders started out slowly in game one, falling
behind to the Mavericks by as much as six points early on. Lesko
managed to rally the troops with successive kills up the middle, turning the
tide and eventually the match with a impressive 30-20 win.
From that point on, it was all National American as
they found a way to block the Madonna hitters and connect on seemingly every
attempt of their own. The Mav's were led by Daniela Oliveriaand Leslie
DaSilva who posted 29 and 27 kills respectively and hit .634 and .500 each.
"I thought they played extremely well and we didn't,"
stated coach Jerry Abraham following the match. "We have to
respond tonight...that it what champions are made of, how you respond under
adversity."
The Crusaders will get their chance to respond when
they face Texas Wesleyan in the National Quarterfinals tonight. Match
time is set at 9:00 p.m. (ET).
