Senior Heather Spooner after Thursday's season ending loss, which ended the careers of MU's two seniors.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Madonna volleyball team saw their season come to an end at the hands of Dickinson State (N.D.) in three games (30-28, 30-23, 30-20).  The loss dropped MU's tournament mark to 0-3, the first time in eight trips they have gone winless.  It is also the first time since 1999 the Crusaders have dropped three consecutive matches at any point in a season.

The loss also ends the stellar career of two Madonna seniors, Heather

 Spooner (Woodhaven, MI/Woodhaven HS) and Caryn Inman (Oxford, MI/Oxford HS).  Inman posted a team high 15 kills in the loss while Spooner added eight.

Dickinson State jumped out to an early lead and never let the Crusaders take momentum in what was a must win situation for the Cruaders.

Despite taking leads in both game one and game two, Madonna could never put away the Blue Hawks who advanced to the quarterfinals with the victory.

Madonna never held a lead in the game three loss.

Lubovj Tihomirova (Riga, Latvia/Rigas Gymnasia HS) posted 14 kills for MU in defeat while Inta Grinvalds (Portage, MI/Portage Central HS) added 46 assists.

Despite a tough outing at the National Tournament, what can't be lost is the stellar play of the team throughout the season.  A year which saw the Crusaders capture their 10th straight WHAC championship, another regional title and their fifth straight trip to the National Championships.