MILWAUKEE – It took 19 matchups since Mount Mary's inaugural NCAA-affiliated season in 2009—including four opportunities this season—but the Mount Mary University volleyball team finally clawed out a historic victory over Maranatha Baptist University. Despite falling into a 0-2 deficit, the Blue Angels rallied in impressive fashion Friday night in at the MMU Autumn Classic, surging past the Sabercats for a thrilling 24-26, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-12 victory on Senior Night.
The Blue Angels, who dropped the tournament opener to Calumet College of St. Joseph, 25-21, 25-15, 25-19, improved to 7-18 overall on the season with the Friday split.
CALUMET ST. JOSEPH 3, MMU 0
Junior Alyssa Davis (Milwaukee, Wis./School of Languages) recorded a career-high eight kills on .462 hitting and sophomore Brianna Ecker (Fond du Lac, Wis./Stockbridge) added eight kills of her own, but the Crimson Wave proved too much in Friday's tournament opener.
Junior Lauren Nylund (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) led the Blue Angels with 11 digs, and junior Aislinn Strusz (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) added 10 saves.
Facing early and unsurmountable deficits in each of the first two sets, MMU opened the third with an 8-4 lead off kills from freshman Morgan Vander Kooy (Fond du Lac, Wis./St. Mary's Springs) and Strusz, and a handful of CCSJ errors. Three straight MMU attack errors drew the Crimson Wave even, and the visitors stretched their lead on some tough serving to eventually put the match away.
MMU 3, MARANATHA BAPTIST 2
Mount Mary was 0-18 all-time against Maranatha Baptist entering the nightcap. In fact, before last Thursday's five-setter in Watertown, the Blue Angels had won just two total sets against MBU. All that changed in Friday's tournament finale as Mount Mary reverse-swept their longtime rivals in dramatic fashion.
Ecker, Strusz, and junior Jacklyn Mozdzen (Wautoma, Wis./Wautoma) all tallied career-highs in kills Friday night with 21, 19, and 12 respectively. Vander Kooy added 10 kills to put a season-best four Blue Angels in double-figures.
With those gaudy numbers, freshman Emma White (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) unsurprisingly set career marks of her own with 53 assists and 19 digs, while Mozdzen's 23 digs were also a career high. Ecker added a season-best 20 digs, while Nylund added 15—the fourth time she eclipsed the double-digit dig mark this season.
Strusz remained true to her nickname, as her four aces from the service line were not only a career-best effort, but so instrumental in MMU's comeback effort Friday night.
An integral timeout midway through the third set completely changed the tone in Friday's final match of the evening as the Blue Angels erased a 17-13 deficit by scoring seven of the next nine points, capped off by a service ace by White. Both teams jostled positions before, down 23-22, three straight kills by junior Jacklyn Mozdzen (Wautoma, Wis./Wautoma), White and Ecker completed the third set comeback.
The Blue Angels took complete control midway through the fourth set, highlighted by consecutive Strusz service aces and a pair of Ecker kills. Aggressive serving down the stretch kept the Sabercats out of system offensively, as MMU emphatically tied the match up 2-2 off yet another Ecker kill.
Things appeared a bit shaky to start the tiebreaker as MBU jumped out to a 6-3 lead. But the no-quit Blue Angels dug deep in response, eventually taking a 12-10 lead off the serving prowess of Ecker and five straight kills from Vander Kooy and Strusz. MBU would side out after a timeout, but consecutive put-aways from Vander Kooy and Strusz offered up MMU's first ever match point against the familiar foe. Finally, after a long and arduous 12 years, another emphatic kill by none other than Strusz ended the match in favor of the Blue Angels as the MMU side erupted.
The trio of Davis, Nylund, and Strusz were honored following the MBU match in a Senior Night ceremony. Despite being athletically "classed" as juniors due to the COVID pause, each plans to graduate this upcoming spring and was thus celebrated for their commitment and contributions to MMU volleyball.
Mount Mary will close out the weekend Saturday afternoon, taking on Beloit College in the MMU Autumn Classic finale at 2 p.m.
