Madonna Wins Martin
Memorial Championship
September
06,
2008
WINDSOR BOX |
SPRING ARBOR BOX
LIVONIA, Mich. - -
Senior All-American Lubovj Tihomirova took home MVP honors and was joined
on the all-tournament team by fellow senior Whitney Fuelling and junior
Inta Grinvalds as Madonna took home the 2008 Julie Martin Memorial
Tournament Championship on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Windsor and a 3-1 win
over Spring Arbor.
WINDSOR
Madonna and Windsor battled back and forth in set one as the usually potent
Crusader offense struggles, connecting at just a .161 average. MU was down 11-8
early but came back to square the set at 11 and then held on for the 25-21 win.
Tihomirova led the way in set one with three kills while Megan Fricke and
Karie Altman each had two.
Set two
of the match saw the Crusaders get back on track, connecting on 15 of its 37
attempts with just three errors for a .444 attack percentage. MU led throughout
with Mary McGinnis posting four kills to go along with three each from
Fricke, Fuelling and Tihomirova in the 25-19 win.
The
final set was much like the second, with MU connecting at a .433 clip.
Tihomirova had the hot hand with eight of her match high 17 kills coming in the
final set. Fuelling added in four more as the Crusaders cruised 25-11.
Freshman
Amanda Koszela donned the libero jersey for the first time in her career
and led MU with nine digs while Grinvalds handed out 27 assists as Madonna
improved to 11-1 on the season. Windsor fell to 0-3.
SPRING
ARBOR
In a rematch of the season opener, Madonna took on the Cougars of Spring Arbor
in the final match of the tournament and much like on August 20, Madonna came
away with the win, this time by a final margin of 3-1 to improve to 12-1 on the
season.
Set one
was all Madonna as the Crusaders cruised to the 25-10 win. MU hit at a .387 clip
with Fuelling being economical on her swings, putting down five of the eight
balls she hit. McGinnis followed her with four kills of her own while Brynn
Kerr posted seven digs.
The
second set was much like the first, with MU connecting on 50 percent of its
attacks with just two errors in the 25-13 win. Tihomirova had six kills among
her eight attempts with Fricke putting down four shots.
SAU came
back in set three, winning 25-22 after leading the entire way. MU pulled to
within a single point five times before tying the set at 23-23 but back-to-back
attack errors by the Crusaders gave the Cougars the three point win.
MU put
the match away in the fourth set despite a .056 attack percentage. McGinnis put
down four balls as the Crusaders trailed just once at 1-0 and after building out
a five point lead at 18-13, didn’t allow the Cougars to get closer than two
points the rest of the way in taking the set 25-18.
Kerr
posted a career best 28 digs while Grinvalds handed out 37 assists.
Tihomirova had 66 kills over the four matches in earning the MVP award. She hit
at a .434 clip to go along with 17 blocks and six service aces. Fuelling was
right behind her with 44 terminations and a .398 attack percentage. Grinvalds
was selected after leading the Crusader offense with 145 assists, including a
season high 50 against Cedarville on Friday night.
Madonna
is now off until Tuesday night when it opens WHAC play at Concordia in a 7pm
match.
Contact:
Patrick Moore, Sports Information Director
(734) 432-5834
