ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Mount Union volleyball team split its last two matches of its home Purple and White Invitational on Saturday.
The Purple Raiders lost, 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 19-25, 25-19, 15-12), to Mount St. Joseph in their first match, before ending on a high note with a 3-0 shutout over Manchester (25-12, 25-20, 25-23).
Mount was up 2-1 in its first match, however, the Lions fought back and edged the Raiders 15-12 in the fifth set. Sophomores
Heaven Bartell (Cleveland / St. Joseph Academy) and
Darby Leininger (Chardon / Beaumont) led Mount in kills with 14 and 10, respectively. Senior
Mollie Thomas (Massillon / Massillon Perry) dished out a team-high 24 assists, followed by senior
Katie May (Brecksville / Independence) with 18. May and senior
Alyssa Kasaris (North Royalton / North Royalton) each had two aces. Kasaris led the Raider defense with a match-high 30 digs, followed by Bartell with 19. Sophomore
Catherine Klopp (Sycamore / Mohawk) was dominant at the net with a match-high seven blocks (tying a career-best with five solo), to go along with a career-high nine kills.
In the sweep, senior
Isabella Sprunger (North Royalton / North Royalton) and Leininger both tied for a match-high nine kills, followed by graduate student
Maria Ellesin (Alliance / Marlington) with seven. Thomas once again led in assists, dishing out a match-best 25, to go along with two aces. Kasaris again led the defense with 16 digs, while Leininger added nine.
Mount Union (5-3) is back on the court Friday, September 16 for the first day of the two-day Fisher Invite in Rochester, N.Y. First up will be SUNY Geneseo at 4:30 p.m.
