Foresters Fall in Five to No. 22 Marian
Indianapolis, Ind. - The Forester volleyball team traveled to Indy on Wednesday night to take on #22 Marian University. HU gave the Knights all they could handle before falling in five (18-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-12).
Huntington took an early 5-4 lead that they would not relinquish in the 25-18 opening set victory. Marian (13-2, 4-1) took an early lead in the second set, but HU quickly bounced back. Tied at 14, the Foresters went on the attack to take a 20-16 lead that they would ride to a 25-23 win. Marian would not go down without a fight as they won the next two sets to set the stage for a decisive fifth set. With the score tied at 3, HU rattled off five straight points to jump ahead 10-5 and put the Knights against the ropes. Marian came out swinging like a prize fighter and connected on nine straight points to deliver the knockout punch and take the 15-12 fifth set win.
Maisyn Robrock tied a career high with 15 kills to lead the Forester offensive attack. Trevyn Terry was strong in the middle with 11 kills and three blocks. Haley Kruse contributed 10 kills, five blocks, and 17 digs. Layla Meyer patrolled the back line and recorded a career best 37 digs. As a team, the Foresters had 11 service aces, but the 14 service errors on the night turned out to be too much to overcome.
"This was the best volleyball that we've played all season, and I truly believe that we can each make the decision to allow this to be a stepping stone that catapults us forward rather than a hurdle that trips us up," noted Coach Kelsey Herber. "We are going to learn and train how to finish tight sets against strong teams and be better moving forward because of tonight."
The Foresters (10-6, 2-3) will have the opportunity to do that on Saturday when they travel to Marion to take on #8 Indiana Wesleyan (12-2,5-0).
The Huntington University Foresters compete in 18 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 160 NAIA All-America honors and 567 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.