MARSHALL, Mo. – The Raven Volleyball team opened their season with a 3-1 finish at the Missouri Valley Invitational on Friday and Saturday taking three straight over Morningside, Hannibal-LaGrange, and Williams Baptist.
The tournament opened with a 3-0 loss to Cumberland before the Ravens rallied for a 3-1 win over Morningside to give head coach Victoria Hurtt her first career win as the program's head coach. After the Friday split, on Saturday, the Ravens earned a 3-0 win over Hannibal-LaGrange and capped off the season-opening weekend with a 3-0 win over Williams Baptist.
All three sets against Cumberland were close as the Ravens lost by a combined seven points. Joslyn Lewis finished the match with 11 kills while Haylie Dickerson and Regan Bruggeman added 7 each. Marea Wortmann and Katelyn Malick set up the offensive attack, finishing with 17 and 13 assists respectively. Defensively, Megan Luby and Mary Pat Taylor finished with 9 digs each.
In the win over Morningside, three Ravens finished in double digits in kills. Lewis finished with 17, followed by Bruggeman with 11. Taylor and Dickerson added 10 each as the Ravens recorded 54 kills over four sets. Wortmann anchored the attack with 28 assists while Malick added 19. Luby led the back-row defense with 22 digs while Taylor finished with 13. Malick added 12 digs while Kristijana Istuk.
In the win over Hannibal-LaGrange, Lewis was the only Raven in double digits in kills with 11 while Bruggeman, Taylor, and Dickerson each finished with 7. Wortman finished with 23 assists while Malick added 10. Defensively, Luby finished with 14 digs while Istuk added 8.
In the weekend's finale, the Ravens recorded a .307 attack percentage with a balanced attack. Five Ravens finished with at least five kills in the sweep led by Lewis with 8. Taylor finished with 7, followed by Dickerson and Maggie Schoening with 6 while Bruggeman added 5. Needing just 32 assists in the sweep, Wortmann finished with 15 while Malick added 8. Defensively, Luby finished with 10 digs while Wortmann added 6.
Benedictine makes their home debut on Tuesday at 6 p.m. as they host a match with Kansas Wesleyan University inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium. A junior varsity match will also take place, starting at 4 p.m. Tickets are available at www.ravenathletics.com/tickets.
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