ANKENY, Iowa -- The Sabercats went up against some of the top schools in NCCAA DII Women's Volleyball this weekend, taking straight-set losses at the Faith Invitational.

Maranatha not only had to face the hosts, Faith, but they also took on the sixth-ranked Randall University Saints and the seventh-ranked North Central Rams during a difficult slate of opponents on the weekend.

OVERVIEW 

• Results:
  • Maranatha 0-3 No. 6 Randall (13-25, 7-25, 14-25)
  • Maranatha 0-3 Faith (6-25, 5-25, 14-25)
  • Maranatha 0-3 No. 7 North Central (15-25, 18-25, 20-25)
  • Maranatha 0-3 Trinity Bible (9-25, 19-25, 19-25)
• Venue: Nettleton Center, Faith Baptist Bible College
• Location: Ankeny, Iowa
• Event: Faith Classic
• Records: MBU (0-13), RU (9-2), FBBC (8-4), NCU (9-2), TBC (2-8)

STORY 
The sixth-ranked Saints were the first order of business for the Sabercats, who tried to find an answer for a 19-kill onslaught from Randall in the third set. The Saints were sharp at the net, putting down 34 kills in the match while swinging at a clip of .365 on the day, taking the match in three sets to reinstate their place in the NCCAA Top 10.

The Faith match, the last one of the night on Friday, was electric. Fueled by the passion of their home crowd, the Eagles proved to be the toughest to beat of anyone on the weekend, as they limited the Sabercats to just 25 points in the match. Codie Wirges led the Eagles with 11 kills while Tessa Hinze led the Sabercats with six. Three sets is all the Eagles needed in the match, taking their first-ever sweep of Maranatha behind an amped home crowd.

North Central was the Sabercats best showing of the weekend, as the Sabercats' lowest point per set was 15. The Rams limited Tessa Hinze to just two kills, but Sarah Nason upped her game with six to keep the Sabercats balanced on the offensive side. Eileen Botha rounded out the offensive display as she dished up a season-high 15 assists. For North Central, Nana Lopez was the Rams' main treat at the net, putting down 14 kills.

The final match of the weekend was the Sabercats' old North Region opponent, Trinity Bible College, who is already showing noticeable improvement from previous seasons. The Lions had to rely on a dozen hitting errors from the Sabercats to win the first set, but they quickly found an offensive rhyhtm, putting down a dozen kills in both the second and third sets, winning each of those frames 25-19. Hinze and TBC's Abigail Molan match each other almost blow for blow, putting down seven and eight kills, respectively, and the Sabercats rounded out the weekend with their best two performances at the Faith Invitational.

MBU Starters: 6- Botha, 9- Hinze, 11- Adams, 13- Broere, 14- Anderson, 16- Nason, 22- Miller (C) (Libero)

STATS

• No. 6 Randall
• Faith
• No. 7 North Central
• Trinity Bible
• Series: Maranatha currently leads the all-time series against Randall 5-4
• Series: Maranatha leads the all-time series against Faith 25-3
• Series: Maranatha leads the all-time series against North Central 19-4
• Series: Maranatha leads the all-time series against Trinity Bible 5-1

ALL-TOURNAMENT
TBA

OPPONENTS

• Randall competes in the NCCAA DII Southwest Region
• Faith competes in the NCCAA DII North Region
• North Central competes in the NCCAA DII North Region
• Trinity Bible competes in the NCCAA DII North Region

NEXT

The Sabercats travel to NCCAA Midwest Region opponents, Emmaus, on Friday for a 7:00 p.m. start. Follow all the action at mbusabercats.com/schedule.