Marian Upends No. 12 Providence in NAIA Tournament Pool Play

Sioux City, Iowa - The Marian women's volleyball team opened up day two of NAIA Pool Play on Thursday morning at the Tyson Events Center by upsetting No. 12 Providence 3-1, keeping their hopes for the NAIA Quarterfinals alive. The Knights are now 25-9 overall on the season following the win, moving to 2-1 during the national tournament. 

The beginning part of the first set drew four ties with the Knights benefiting off of an attacking error and kills by Nicole Wilkinson, Madison Brooks, and Sarah Bennett. Providence then broke up the bottleneck with a 4-0 run to bring the set 4-9. The Knights began to chip away at the lead with Gabby Fish scoring a pair of kills, while Mikayla Christiansen followed with one. The offense narrowed the margin, but Marian was to completely close the gap. A 4-0 run featuring kills from Wilkinson, Khori Dryden, and Sarah Bennett forced the Argos to call for time, with the score showing 11-13. Both sides were unable to draw any runs longer than two with as the Marian hitters rallied the offense, however a pair of points scored by the Argos and a late attack error by the Knights allowed Providence to take a 25-22 victory in set one. 

Marian kicked it into gear in the second set trailing the match 0-1, as their senior hitters Christiansen and Brooks opened the game up with back to back kills. The effecient start for Marian pushed their lead to four, while a block from Gabby Fish and Nicole Wilkinson captured a 10-5 advantage. Providence would answer the block with three unanswered points, but was not enough to end the Knights share of the lead, as a pair of errors from the Agros ignited a 10-0 run for the Knights. Logan Smith served through nine rallies in the run, landing a service ace while assisting on three kills, while another three blocks from Wilkinson pushed the lead to 20-8. Providence would attempt a late rally in the game, but Marian closed on a high-note with a Khori Dryden kill, winning 25-14 to tie the match. 

With a set win under their belts in the Tyson Events Center for the first time in the tournament, Marian continued to attack and fire away, opening set three with an 8-2 lead. The Knights again pushed their lead to 10-5 after winning the first two stages of the set, but kept the door open for Providence, as they rallied back within two points at a 16-14 score. The Argos offense led them back into the contest, but after a quick timeout, swings from Dryden, Christiansen, and Fish pushed Marian back in front 19-15, forcing a timeout from Providence. Wilkinson added a kill out of the timeout to put Marian within five points of a 2-1 lead, opening the final surge as Brooks eventually closed the set with kills on two of the final three rallies. Marian ended the third set with a 25-20 victory.

Leading 2-1 entering the fourth set, Marian continued to click on offense, opening up with a 4-0 run that forced a quick timeout. Providence would rally with three unanswered points, but a 6-0 run quickly put Marian back in the driver's seat. The Argos fought back as they aimed to see set five, bringing the score to a one-point difference, but a pair of kills from Mikayla Christiansen allowed the Knights to shoot back in front by four. Holding a 15-12 edge, Marian ran the offense through Christiansen, Dryden, and Brooks, embarking on a 6-1 run to take a 21-13 lead. Sensing the victory, Marian let off the pedal and allowed Providence a late spark as they ran on their own 6-1 clip, but it was not enough to overtake the lead, as a service ace from Sydney Schaffer on the final rally of the game pushed the Knights to a 25-21 victory, winning the match 3-1. 

Madison Brooks led the team in kills with 20, setting a career-high for kills in addition to points (24). Mikayla Christiansen also recorded her career-high in kills with 17, and Khori Dryden scored 13 kills on the day. Logan Smith led the team in assists with a career-high 36, adding a personal-best 22 digs to record a double-double. Emerson Evans followed her senior setter with 17 assists in the win. Emma Lyons led the team in digs with 35, while Christiansen posted 12 to record a double-double. Nicole Wilkinson led the Knights in blocks with eight in the victory, while Brooks was had seven in her career-day. Marian had four service aces on the day, with Smith recording a pair. 

The Knights hopes of continuing into the Quarterfinal match-ups in the NAIA National Tournament depend on the results of the Providence and Bellevue match-up tomorrow morning at 11 AM ET. If Marian advances to the tiebreaker round, the events will be streamed on the NAIA network tomorrow night, December 6th.

MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and more.