JACKSONVILLE, ILL. -- Though they didn't start or finish with their strongest play, Principia took the win against MacMurray tonight in four games. In game one, Principia dropped behind early with the score of 5-9 then 6-11, until
Christine Nacewicz's tough serving changed the momentum to tie the game at 12-12. Nine hitting errors and five serving errors from Principia didn't help them take the lead as MacMurray middle hitters capitalized with their specialty hard cut-back hits to the right side. At the end of game one, the score was tied 24-24 with MacMurray's fans booming until MacMurray finished game one, Principia losing 24-26.
Principia also began game two slow with two hitting errors and one serving error, the score 1-6 until
Kiersten Andersen sparked the game with five hard serves to MacMurray's weakest passer.
Devin Sinner contributed to the spark with two kills and a single block against the big middle hitters, and
Christine Nacewicz and
Sarah Howard kept points rolling with a few deep kills, along with
Ally Read's back row attack, pushing the score to 17-9. Ashley Riesen took Principia from 20 points to 25 points with great serving, finishing game two 25-14.
Game three was all Principia, meaning that when Principia eliminated errors they shut down MacMurray's ability to do anything. As a team, Principia put down 11 kills with only two errors,
Christine Nacewicz giving five of those kills.
Isabelle Tetu led the way with a strong serving spree including two aces. Ending score: 25-15.
Game four started with
Christine Nacewicz serving, the score 4-0.
Sarah Howard's seven kills and
Isabelle Tetu's three aces pushed the lead to 24-17 However, MacMurray fought for the last points, making the score 24-23. With MacMurray's fans cheering for MacMurray's comeback, Principia worked to refocus. Principia ended the match as
Kiersten Andersen hit a ball into MacMurray's block that ricocheted out of bounds, Principia winning 25- 23.
Principia plays Webster and Blackburn next in a quad match this Saturday at Webster.
