Marian drops Volleyball in home opener

MEQUON, Wis. – Marian University used a balanced offensive attack on Thursday night to claim a 3-0 (19-25, 15-25, 26-28) sweep over Concordia University Wisconsin inside the R. John Buuck Field House.

The Falcons (3-6, 0-2 NAC) dropped their home opener after struggling on offense and ended the match with a .014 attacking percentage. Sophomore Hannah Griffiths (Antigo, Wis.) paced the team with nine kills, but she also had six attacking errors.

Anna Smiit led all players with 13 kills, while Katie Reimer finished with the game's only double-double, 35 assists and 15 digs. Three others Sabres also had double-figure digs.

Sophomore Carley Valentine (De Pere, Wis.) accumulated 17 assists for the Falcons, and sophomore Erin Howard (Labadie, Mo.) and Griffiths had 15 and 11 digs, respectively.

CUW was in the opening frame and held a 18-18 tie with MU (7-5, 2-0 NAC), however, four attacking errors and two kills by Katlin Jarvis gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead.

The second frame was all MU as they used a 14-6 scoring run to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. At one point, the Sabres scored nine-consecutive points.

CUW switched its rotation in the third set and used freshman Melissa Jonas (Watertown, Wis.) as its setter. The Falcons offense appeared to be in better rhythm as they extended the set, although, the Sabres scored the final two points to win, 28-26.

The Falcons won't have any time off to recover as they begin play at the Pizza Hut Classic on Friday at 3:30 p.m. against Ripon College. They are also scheduled to play host UW-Oshkosh, Martin Luther College and Carroll University.