WYOMING, Mich. – Today at the Grace Bible College Quad, the Mount Mary University volleyball team dropped two matches. The first match MMU battled with Finlandia University (6-20) in a 3-1 victory for the Lions, then the Blue Angels (0-15) lost to Faith Baptist University (10-10) 3-0 to end play for day one of the quad.
In the opening frame of the first match, the Blue Angels fell behind, but continued to apply pressure on their opponents. The Lions hit 10 team kills and one error on their 23 total attacks. MMU battled with nine kills on their 33 total attacks, but Finlandia held on for the 25-15 win on the set.
The Blue Angels came storming back in the second set. MMU led throughout the set, while the Lions nipped away constantly. The Blue Angels received a multitude of service aces in the second set from across their roster. Five aces for MMU led to a 26-24 win for Mount Mary in the set, two of those aces came from Marissa Tun (Jr./Greenfield, Wis.).
In the third set, the Blue Angels continued to attack. In fact, MMU led by three on multiple occasions in the third frame. An extremely accurate set for the Blue Angels, MMU hit 10 team kills on 21 total attacks. Although a higher kill percentage, the Blue Angels dropped the third set to the Lions pushing extra points 26-24.
The final set saw another accurate frame for the Blue Angels. Hitting 13 kills on 30 total attacks, MMU matched their .333 kill percentage from the previous set. The Blue Angels led 12-6 midway through, the Lions continued their efforts as they whittled away that lead and tied things at 22-22.
The Lions finished the set with three straight kills including a match-ending service ace for a 25-22 win.
Rookie Johnelle Suto (Fr./Enterprise, Ore.) led the Blue Angels in the first match with 19 assists. Teammate Marissa Tun led MMU with four service aces and 16 digs.
Lauren Harris (Jr./Sheridan, Ill.) led MMU's charge with ten kills on 26 total attacks.
In the second match the Blue Angels took on the Faith Baptist Bible College Eagles for the second time this season. The Eagles took an early lead in this one, and took it to a 25-15 winning set. The Blue Angels had nine team kills out of their 30 total attacks to their opponent's 13 kills on 29 total attacks.
The Eagles carried that momentum into the second set as they continued to hit accurately with 11 kills and two team errors. FBBC led throughout that frame as they won 25-12.
MMU bounced backed in the third set. Leading 3-1, the Blue Angels applied the pressure on offense. FBBC chipped away and took control of the lead. The Eagles closed out day on of the Grace Bible Quad on a 12-2 run over MMU on their way to the 3-0 match win.
Harris again led the Blue Angels offense with seven kills on her 17 total attacks and seven digs. Teammate Johnelle Suto also led the second match with 11 assist for her Blue Angels.
Following today's matches, the Blue Angels will close out the Grace Bible Quad with a match against host Grace Bible College (9-7). The teams will begin play at 2:00 pm EST, live video can be found here or at mtmaryathletics.com.
