SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The
No. 4 ranked Madonna University volleyball
team earned their second ever trip to the 'Final Four'
with a 3-1 (30-28, 30-21,
23-30, 30-15) win over
Texas Wesleyan in quarterfinal
action Friday (December 2, 2005) at the NAIA National Championships.
Senior Laura Lesko
(Wyandotte, Mich../Wyandotte)
paced the Crusader offensive attack with 21 kills in 34
attempts, while senior Natalja Tinina
(Riga, Latvia./Purvicems)
added 20 kills and junior
Caryn Inman (Oxford, Mich./Oxford) 19. Ashley
Frost (Lake Odessa, Mich./Lakewood)
posted 61 assists for the
second time in as many days.
The win improves
Madonna to 48-1 on the
season and 4-1 in the national
tournament, while Texas Wesleyan ends their season
at 37-5. The
Crusaders advance to the national semi-finals where they will face defending
national champion California Baptist, who upset previously undefeated and
No. 1 ranked Fresno Pacific (Calif.) in the quarterfinal round.
The Crusaders started out slowly in game one, falling
behind 7-13 after a pair of Kelsey Mack (Livonia, Mich./Churchill).
Down 17-21, the Crusaders cut the TWU lead to two on a Lesko termination
that seemed to shift momentum to the side of the Region VIII champs.
The Crusaders tied the game for the first time 25-25
on a Texas Wesleyan attack error and took their first lead, 27-26 on the
second kill of the night by junior Heather Spooner (Woodhaven,
Mich./Woodhaven). From that point forward the lead was MU's,
capped by a Lesko kill that made the final 30-28.
In game two, the two teams traded blows before Madonna
pushed ahead 16-12, the beneficiary of a pair of attack errors and a service
error, giving MU their biggest lead of the game. It was a lead they
would not relinquish, cruising the a 30-21 final score.
In game three, it was mostly Texas Wesleyan, as the
Lady Rams took a 8-7 lead and never looked back on their way to a 30-23
victory.
The loss seemed to charge the Crusaders batteries as
they came out swinging in game four, opening a lead as large as 13-points on
a Tinina cross-court kill, 27-14. Inman dealt the final blow of the
night on a slide play feed from Frost, capping the four game victory, 30-15.
"We knew it was going to be a battle and our kids
responded," stated coach Jerry Abraham following the match.
"What a terrific team they had on the other side of the net, we had to play
with a high level of confidence and enthusiasm to come out on top and we
did."
Abraham also said his team will be ready for their
semi-final match-up with the 2004 champions.
"California Baptist is a great team and we will have
to bring out 'A' game tomorrow."
The Crusaders and Lancers will face off tomorrow
(December 3, 2005) in the first semi-final of the day. Match time is
set at 1:00 p.m. (ET).
