Volleyball team rallies to beat Albion in four sets

ALBION, Mich. -- The Olivet College volleyball team rallied to beat Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Albion in four sets tonight at Kresge Gymnasium in Albion. After losing the first set 27-25, the Comets won the next three sets 25-15, 25-13 and 25-14. With the win, Olivet improves to 11-10 and 6-6 in the MIAA, with the six league wins being the second most in school history for a single-season.

Sophomore Sam Gibson (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) had 13 kills to lead the Comets, who hit .222 with 51 total kills. Junior Jordy Bergeron (Muskegon/Mona Shores) also reached double figures in kills with 12, while sophomore Melanie Merchant (St. Joseph) and senior Ellen Schulz (Freeland) had nine and seven, respectively. Schulz had only one attack error on 14 attempts for a .429 hitting percentage.

As a team, Olivet had three solo blocks and 16 assisted blocks for 11 total blocks. Sophomore Tori King (Ash Grove, Mo.) led the way with six blocks (two solos and four assisted). Senior setter Jenessa Hicks (Union City) had five blocks to go along with 41 assists. Defensively, senior Morgan Iloncaie (Port Huron/Imlay City) collected a team-leading 19 digs. Sophomore Megan McCarty (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) recorded 10 digs. From the service line, the Comets had nine aces, including five for freshman Kaitlyn Salhaney (Caledonia/East Kentwood).

"Tonight, I saw a lot of good stuff," said Olivet Head Coach Lynnette Moster. "And a lot of it has to do with the high level of competition we faced last weekend at Davenport. We came out a little slow in the first set, but we came out stronger early in the second set and continued with our aggressive play throughout the rest of the match. Overall, everyone who stepped on the court played at a high level. It was a total team effort to get the win."

The Comets will continue MIAA play Saturday at Calvin College. Game time at Van Noord Arena is 1 p.m.