Box Score Two of the top teams in the conference, the Aquinas and Madonna women's volleyball teams went the full five sets on Wednesday (Oct. 9) in Livonia, with the home Crusaders pulling out a 15-11 win in the fifth set to claim the tough WHAC victory. AQ and Madonna alternated wins in the first four sets before MU nabbed wins in the fourth and fifth frames.
 
Aquinas fell in the match by scores of 25-20, 25-27, 25-17, 15-25, and 11-15. It was the 10th time in 19 matches this season the Saints have played the full five sets. 
 
The teams came into the contest just one win apart in the conference standings. With the result, AQ drops to 9-10 on the season and 6-4 in league play, while Madonna improves to 16-6 overall and 8-2 in WHAC action. The defeat also snaps Aquinas' four-match winning streak, which included three sweeps.
 
On Wednesday, the teams were nearly even offensively, with Madonna hitting .172 with 58 kills against AQ's .167 attack clip and 53 kills. The Crusaders held edges in assists (56-52) and digs (77-66), while Aquinas held advantages in blocks (14-10) and aces (9-6).
 
Payton Klein paced the Saints offense with 15 kills and a team-high .281 hitting percentage, while also leading the AQ defense with a match-best eight block assists. She added a pair of aces. Jackie Rozell provided a dozen kills and four block assists.
 
Meredith Kraus totaled 11 kills, eight digs, and five total blocks. Both Maddie Ingraham and Kylie Christensen contributed seven kills apiece, with Christensen notching five total blocks and Ingraham adding three digs and a pair of block assists.
 
Kali Crawford passed for 50 assists and tallied eight digs, while Karly Morris picked up a match-best 26 digs. Sam VanHouten chipped in 11 digs, Kenzie Sanders served four aces, and Olivia Martinelli added two service aces.
 
AQ has a full week off, as the Saints will not play again until next Wednesday night (Oct. 16). Aquinas will host crosstown rival Cornerstone at 7:00 p.m. in the Sturrus Center.