WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The home crowd was in full swing and so were the Sabercats tonight, as they fought off Mount Mary University 3-1 for their second win of the 2024 season.
Four Sabercats posted career-high marks on the night as Maranatha (2-20, 1-4 NCCAA Midwest) held on over the Blue Angels (3-14 0-0 C2C) in a four-set thriller.
OVERVIEWÂ
- Results: Maranatha 3-1 Mt. Mary (19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 26-24)
- Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
- Location: Watertown, Wis.
- Records: MBU (2-20), Mt. Mary (3-14)
STORYÂ
The Sabercats' scrappy defense and balanced offense sent them out to a 9-5 lead, with Ella Malmanger leading the way with two kills. But Mount Mary sensed the danger and put down eight straight points for force Coach Lindsay Lawson into calling a timeout. Mount Mary stayed in front, scraping together the points they needed. The Sabercats held an 8-7 advantage in kills in the opening set but Mount Mary ended up taking it 25-19, holding off a late Sabercats bid at a comeback.
Set two was a turnaround for Maranatha, as Malmanger and Tessa Hinze led the way offensively for MBU. Key kills late in the set from Megan Anderson put the Sabercats on the brink of tying things up, and the killer blow came from Tessa Hinze with the set on the line.
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The third set started to swing the pendulum back for Mount Mary, as the Blue Angels flew out to an 11-5 lead that would have crippled the Sabercats resolve, but even after trailing 11-18, the Sabercats came roaring back with a 10-1 run to get right back in it. Anderson, Malmanger, and Hinze were leading the way and even when Mount Mary almost mounted a comeback to steal the set, the Sabercats held on to go up 2-1.
The fourth set was a thriller.
Sarah Nason kept up her team-leading defensive work on the night (26 digs), and the Sabercats logged seven aces in the fourth set alone, including 3 straight from
Eileen Botha to push the Sabercats out to a 22-18 lead.Â
With the crowd on their feet and the score standing at 25-24, Hinze entered the scene once again to secure the set with a big kill, but this time, it was the match-ending one as the Sabercats took home the hard-fought and well-earned win on the Maranatha campus.
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MBU Starters: 6- Botha, 7- Malmanger, 9- Hinze, 13- Broere, 14- Anderson, 16- Nason, 22- Miller (C) (Libero)
STATS
- Malmanger: 12 K*, 15 D*
- Hinze: 9 K, 4 SA
- Eileen Botha: 28 A*, 5 SA*
- Sarah Nason: 26 D*
- Last time: Maranatha lost to Mount Mary 0-3 in Milwaukee in September
- Series: Maranatha leads the all-time series against Mount Mary 47-17
*Career-high
OPPONENTS
- Mount Mary competes in the Coast-to-Coast Conference (NCAA DIII)
NEXT
The Sabercats travel to Minneapolis this weekend to take on No. 2 North Central and No. 9 Crown in NCCAA competition. Follow all the action at mbusabercats.com/schedule.
