Terre Haute, Ind. --- The Mount Mary University Blue Angels (0-6, 0-0) travelled down to St. Mary of the Woods for their first away games of the season. The Blue Angels are one of ten teams competing in the Showdown in the Woods Invitational. On day one, they faced IU Columbus (7-2, 0-0) and Goshen (2-5, 0-0).   

Inside The Box Score Game One:  

• Rosalina Palacios (Chicago, Ill.) led the way offensively with eight kills. Following behind with five kills each were Gabby Saucedo Salas (Flagstaff, Ariz.), Lilly Severson (Cottage Grove, Wis.), and Delnora Darden (Hendersonville, Tenn.).  

• Leading in the assist category was Ava Fincher (Owensboro, Ky.), with 21.   

• Dominating in the backcourt was Abigail Manthey (Mukwonago, Wis.), picking up 21 digs.  

• Andriana White (Erin, Tenn.) swiped three service aces.  

Set One:  

The Crimson Pride got on the board first, but with a kill by White, brought the score right back to even. Crimson Pride snatched two points but kills by Palacios and Saucedo-Salas brought the Blue Angels down one at 4-3. IU-Columbus went on a 3-0 run before a pair of kills by Severson, which brought the momentum back to close it down 8-6. After a few attack errors on both sides, the Crimson Pride found themselves on another 3-0 run. White shut things down with a dime from Fincher, making the score 13-8 in the hands of the Crimson Pride. Two pairs back-to-back of service aces and kills for IU Columbus grew their lead to 21-12. Darden shifted gears for the Blue Angels, but ultimately the Crimson Pride took set one 25-13.   

Set Two:  

The Blue Angels scored the first two points in set two due to attack errors. Quickly, IU-Columbus flipped things around, scoring the next four, bringing the score 4-2. The service pressure by IU-Columbus continued into set two as they began stretching out their lead to 7-3. A smart play by Severson offensively brings the fight back for the Blue Angels as they trail 9-6. The Crimson Pride shifted gears and scored four in a row before getting shut down 14-8. Darden snatched a right-side kill while Manthey found herself a service ace, bringing the Blue Angels within three points. The Blue Angels and Palacois began to find their groove, stretching the score 14-12. IU-Columbus did not let MMU's run frazzle them as they bounced back with another 6-0 run, 20-12. Palacios took the matters into her own hands and shut down the run with a pair of huge kills down 21-14. White grabbed herself an aggressive service ace, pulling the Blue Angels to 21-16. Darden, Palacios, and Severson took charge offensively, making the Crimson Pride scramble as they were closing in down, 23-21. The pressure by MMU forced IU-Columbus to take a timeout late in set two. After the timeout, the Crimson Pride found their momentum, but not before a kill and service ace by Saucedo-Salas, which had the score 24-23. The Crimson Pride took their final timeout and came out with a kill to finish the set on top 25-23.  

Set Three:  

Set three began with force. The Crimson Pride snatched the first two points, but a service ace from White and a kill from Palacios set Mount Mary on top 3-2. The Blue Angels continued to capitalize and secured a 6-4 lead after Saucedo-Salas punched it down. Another 4-0 run for the Crimson Pride snatched the lead back, 10-7. Severson and Palacios find themselves with kills with hopes for the Blue Angels down 10-9. IU-Columbus finds themselves scoring three in a row before Darden stops the run, 13-10. White grabbed her second service ace of the set, getting the Blue Angels fired up. The Blue Angels turned on their comeback mindset with a 4-0 run, bringing them within two points, 16-14. Just when the Blue Angels sought daylight, Crimson Pride took off, closing in at 22-15. Saucedo-Salas stayed aggressive, scoring two, 24-18. Darden joined in on the comeback attempt, bringing MMU within five, 24-19. Ultimately, the comeback aggression was too late as the Blue Angels fell 25-19.  

Inside The Box Score Game Two:  

• Leading with 11 kills was Saucedo-Salas  

• Nevenah Dukic (Oak Creek, Wis.) picked up three service aces.  

• White and Manthey picked up 14 and 12 digs, respectively.  

• Dishing out 20 assists was Fincher.  

Set One:  

Saucedo-Salas got things started for the Blue Angels. Following with heat, Manthey grabbed a service ace to put the Blue Angels at 3-3. The Maple Leafs grabbed two points before Saucedo-Salas threw down another kill. Saucedo-Salas joined in on the ace train back-to-back and put MMU on top 8-6. Goshen fought back off MMU errors, tying things up 8-8. Severson grabbed a service ace of her own, which expanded the MMU lead to 11-8. The Leafs switched gears and went on a 5-0 run, bringing Goshen to 13-12. Dukic added a service ace into the mix, which started a 7-0 Mount Mary run. Dukic's serving pressure forced Goshen to take a timeout with the score 18-13. Following the timeout, Dukic did not let off the gas and scored another point before the Leafs could stop the run, 19-14. Goshen found their momentum and came crawling back with a 7-0 comeback run. Mount Mary was forced to take a timeout, down 20-19. Fincher and Palacios turned up at the net, bringing the score to 22-21. The Blue Angels took their final timeout in set one to talk things over. Coming out of the timeout, both teams grabbed one point each, bringing the score to 24-22. In the end, strong offensive pressure from Goshen topped Mount Mary in a comeback set.  

Set Two:  

The Maple Leafs scored the first six points of set two. After MMU got their first point of the game, the Maple Leafs went on to grab four service aces in a row, bringing the score 11-1. After the Blue Angels took a timeout, White and Saucedo-Salas threw down kills, 12-3. Back came the Maple Leafs with another 3-0 run, 13-3. Finally, the Blue Angels started a run of their own while trying to close the gap. They were able to bring the score to 15-7. The Maple Leafs continued to attack the Blue Angels and finished set two, 25-12.  

Set Three:  

Dukic started set three with a service ace. Aggressive back-and-forth action got things tied at 5-5. Goshen began taking off with a 3-0 run, bringing the Maple Leafs up 9-6. Darden and Severson pick up kills as the score narrows to 13-10. Dukic snags another service ace and brings the Blue Angels within one point, 13-12. The Maple Leafs started another run before Palacios and Saucedo-Salas grabbed kills, bringing the score 18-17. Another Saucedo-Salas kill, followed by a Fincher service ace, forced Goshen to take a timeout with MMU leading 19-18. Following the timeout, the Maple Leafs went pedal to the medal and scored the next three points, putting them on top 21-20. Ultimately, the Maple Leafs snuck out a set three victory 25-21.   

The Blue Angels will be back in action tomorrow for day two of the Showdown in the Woods invitational. They are paired up against Johnson at 1:00 p.m. est. and Culver-Stockton at 3:00 p.m. est. Coverage for all things MMU volleyball can be found at mtmaryathletics.com. Additional coverage can be found on Instagram @mountmary.vb and Facebook @Mount Mary University Women's Volleyball.