Women’s volleyball rallies to down Alma on Senior Night

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College volleyball team rallied from two sets down to beat Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Alma College in five sets on Senior Night at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Olivet def. Alma 22-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-21, 15-10
Location: The Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Mich.
Records: Olivet 6-21 overall, 2-12 MIAA; Alma 8-14 overall, 5-9 MIAA

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Scots led by a 20-10 score in the opening set. The Comets fought back with five straight points to cut their deficit in half, 20-15. The teams traded points causing a 23-17 score. Olivet went on a 4-0 run to make the score 23-21. Alma scored the next point before an attack error made the score 24-22. A Scot kill ended the set in their favor.
• Alma opened a six-point lead, 12-6, in the second set. The Comets chipped away at their deficit and eventually tied the score at 16-16. The Scots scored the next point and never trailed for the rest of the set.
• With the score knotted at 3-3 in the third set, Olivet scored nine consecutive points to go up 12-3. Alma put four of the next five points on the scoreboard to make the score 12-6. The Comets answered by going on a 7-1 run to push their lead to 12 points, 19-7. Olivet held the lead for the rest of the set, with the 11-point margin being its largest lead.
• The Comets raced out to a five-point advantage, 14-9, early in the fourth set. The Scots fought back and took its first lead, 19-18. Olivet then scored seven of the final nine points of the set to win it, 25-21, and force a deciding set.
• Early in the fifth set, the Comets led by two points on four occasions. After the last time at 7-5, the Scots scored the next points to tie the set. Following two more ties, 8-8 and 9-9, Olivet used a 5-0 run to go ahead 14-9. Alma scored the next point but Olivet ended the set and match with a kill by sophomore Brittney Prince.

FOR THE COMETS

• After posting a .058 attack percentage in the first two sets, Olivet had a .344 attack percentage over the final three sets. In the fifth set, the Comets had nine kills with zero errors on 17 attempts for a .529 hitting percentage.
• Prince and sophomore Morgan Champion each slammed down 16 kills.
• Prince had a .417 attack percentage, with only one error on 36 attacks. She also had a match-high eight blocks.
• Playing in front of the home crowd for the final time, senior Courtney Cronkright recorded a double-double with 12 kills and team-best 24 digs.
• Sophomore Madelyn Notenbaum also registered a double with a match-best 34 kills to go along with 23 digs.
• Sophomore Rose Kemmerling dished out 20 set assists.
• Sophomore Gabrielle Mundt collected 19 digs.

FOR THE SCOTS

• For the match, Alma had 50 kills, with 32 errors on 187 attacks for a .096 hitting percentage.
• Katie Bush had a team-leading 12 kills, followed by Kara Muxlow with 10.
• Dakota Pelach and Haley Novak split time at setter, recording 27 and 19 set assists, respectively.
• Brooke Mason led all players with 25 digs.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• After the match, Olivet recognized its four seniors – Cronkright, Allison Turner, Claudia Crampton and Kaylin Holley – who played in their final home match.
• Kemmerling's 20 set assists was a single-match, career-high.

UP NEXT

• Olivet closes out the 2017 season tomorrow morning with an 11 a.m. match at Kalamazoo College.