MILWAUKEE – The Mount Mary University volleyball team took care of business against crosstown rival Alverno Wednesday evening, beating the Inferno 25-16, 25-16, 24-26, 25-18 for the first time since 2012.
The win improved MMU to 5-15 overall on the year, while Alverno dropped to 1-7 overall.
The Blue Angels took control from the onset against the six-member Inferno squad facing a number of injuries. Aside from a small hiccup in the third, MMU applied pressure from the service line and hit .248 in the three sets it won.
Defensively, MMU held Alverno to .152 hitting as a team, thanks in large part to three players recording double-digit digs. Freshman Ahlyna Cason (Smithton, Mo./Smithton R-VI) tallied a match-high 28 saves, while freshman Emma White (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) and sophomore Brianna Ecker (Fond du Lac, Wis./Stockbridge) added 17 and 10, respectively
Junior Aislinn Strusz (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) and Ecker led the team in kills from the outside pin with 13 and 11 apiece, while junior Jacklyn Mozdzen (Wautoma, Wis./Wautoma) added eight putaways. White dished out 38 assists while Ecker notched four service aces.
After slowly building leads in the first two sets off several unforced Alverno errors, the Inferno roared back to take a 14-7 lead in the third. Facing a 19-24 deficit, kills from Strusz and Cason, an AC attack error and an Ecker ace locked the set at 24-24. The Inferno would extinguish the threat, however, to push the match to a fourth.
MMU raced out to leads at 4-1 and 8-2 in the fourth, and kept Alverno at arm's length for the duration as it secured the victory in its lone home dual match of the 2021 season.
Wednesday was Mount Mary's annual Pink Out for Breast Cancer awareness. Donning pink uniforms and accessories. Members of the St. Matthias seventh and eighth grade volleyball teams were also in attendance, joining the Blue Angels for their pre-match routine.
Mount Mary will take the weekend off before traveling to Maranatha Baptist for a dual in Watertown Thursday, October 14 at 7 p.m. It will be the third matchup of four scheduled meetings between the teams and the first on the Sabercats' home court.
