MILWAUKEE – The Mount Mary University Volleyball Team continued their early season tonight with a home opener against rival Association of Division III Independents team Finlandia University. The Lions took all three sets to go 1-5 on the season, while the loss moves the Blue Angels to 0-2.
The first set the two teams traded points consistently. The Blue Angels took a quick lead, but the Lions never let the deficit reach more than six points. When it did hit the six mark, Finlandia setter Emma Nelson went on a serious tear during her serve and gave the Lions a six point lead by the time they were done.
The Blue Angels did not give in as they took the set to a 25-22 loss battling the entirety of the set. With seven team kills and seven team errors for MMU, the attack percentage was effectively even at .000 for MMU's most efficient set of the night.
To begin the second half the teams swapped points again, until midway through when the Lions turned up the pressure and Natalia Vazquez rattled off four straight points. The cushion provided gave Finlandia the edge in the set and allowed them to come away with the 25-19 set win.
The edge provided in the second set, propelled the Lions into the third set where they got off to a quick 11-2 lead. The Blue Angels chipped away, but could not reduce the lead by more than 9. MMU had one team kill in the final frame against their nine errors, the .312 attack percentage from Finlandia paved the way to the 25-9 final set.
Rachel Barker (Jr./Milwaukee, Wis.) led the offensive attack with four kills and only four attack errors. Transfer libero Marissa Tun (So./Greenfield, Wis.) was all over the court seemingly the whole game racking up a team leading 10 digs and a pair of service aces.
Following today's contest against the Lions, the Blue Angels will prepare for Rockford University (0-3). Both teams will search for their first win of 2016 at the Bloechl Center on Wed. Sept. 7 at 7:00 pm.
