MILWAUKEE – The Mount Mary University volleyball team began their season tonight at the Bloechl Center. In the season opener, the visiting Crown Storm won the match 3-1. The Blue Angels (0-1) surged late in the match with a 26-24 winning set, but the Storm held on to move to 1-0 on the season.
In the opening set, the Blue Angels and Storm traded point after point. When one team added a point, the other came back with an answer. After neither team was able to get more than a one point lead early in the first set, the Storm went on a 9-2 run and took a 19-11 lead. Back-to-back service aces from Elizabeth Clark of the Storm pushed the lead further as Crown took the set 25-14.
In the second set, the Storm came out heavy on the attack. Crown rattled off 12 team kills on 35 total attacks. Down 21-11 to Crown, Adrianna Nester (Sr./Anaheim, Calif.) stepped to the service line and helped MMU on a 5-0 run. The Storm weathered the rally and held on to the second set 25-19.
After falling behind early in the third set, the Blue Angels came back with Alessa Nelson (Sr./Rockford, Ill.) at the service line. With the game tied 5-5, Nelson took over serving and helped the Blue Angels start a 5-0 run including a service ace.
After the Blue Angels went up 15-10, the Storm came back and took a 19-15 lead. With Nelson behind the line again, the Blue Angels made the score 24-21 with Crown ahead. Sophomore Lauren Nylund (Muskego, Wis.) took over serving and the Blue Angels retook the lead once again on their way to a 26-24 winning set.
In the final set, the Storm had their most accurate frame of the evening. With 31 total attacks, the team finished with nine kills and only two errors in the set. The Blue Angels answered with six team kills of their own, but the 10 attack errors in the final frame made the difference 25-11 at the end of the final set.
Newcomers Morgan Vander Kooy (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and Jacklyn Mozdzen (So./Wautoma, Wis.) came away with a team high six kills in their first collegiate match. Nester also had six kills on 50 total attacks and led her squad with 22 digs.
Brianna Ecker (Fr./Fond du Lac, Wis.) led the game with 20 assists on the evening. The young setter also had three kills and only one attack error.
The Blue Angels return to action tomorrow with a pair of games in the Buc Blast on the campus of Beloit. MMU will first take on Northland at 1:00 pm Sat. Aug. 31, then MMU will take on Kalamazoo at 3:00 pm to close out the day. For more info and news on the Blue Angels go to MtMaryAthletics.com.
