Milwaukee, WI- The Mount Mary Volleyball team debuted on their home floor Friday in the annual Blue Angel Bash. Mount Mary split two matches on the day, knocking off Alverno College for the young season's first victory, and then dropping a thrilling five set match to Lawrence University.
In the day's opening contest against Alverno, MMU controlled the majority of the match. MMU took games 1,3, and 4 by decisive scores while the Inferno's only win came in set number two. MMU took the match by scores 25-13, 21-25, 25-13 and 25-15. Statistically, Brianna Ecker posted 13 kills and Kaitlyn Powers added 12, in the dig category, the Blue Angels were paced by Emma White and Elizabeth Irving, with 16 and 14 respectively. White also posted a team high 18 assists.
In the night's second match against the Vikings of Lawrence University, it was clear from the jump that the two teams were evenly matched. Lawrence took the first set by a 25-19 score, then Mount Mary stormed back to take two consecutive tight wins in sets two and three by scores of 25-23 and 26-24.
The back and forth affair continued as Lawrence controlled the fourth set by a 25-15 score. MMU had an 8-6 lead in the decisive fifth set, but Lawrence had one final comeback in them. The Vikings took set five by a 15-9 score to win the match. Ecker and Powers again led the Blue Angels in kills, Ecker with 16 and Powers with 12. Emma White had 18 assists and Caitlyn Krell totaled 16 assists against Lawrence. Ecker also had 18 digs to lead Mount Mary, Harlee McDowell contributed 15 digs as well.
Mount Mary (1-5) will face a quick Friday to Saturday turnaround. The Blue Angels next match will be against Ripon College at 10 am Saturday morning at the Bloechl Center. The Blue Angels and Red Hawks have already matched up once this season, with Ripon winning in four sets on Friday, September 1st.
MMU will then conclude the 2023 Blue Angel Bash with a match up against the Regents of Rockford University at 2:30 pm. All live coverage of the matches will be available here on www.mtmaryathletics.com
