ROCKFORD/RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The Marian University women's volleyball team (4-19, 2-6 NACC) split a pair of road matches on the weekend opening with a sweep over Rockford (25-14, 25-18, 25-23) before dropping a five-set thriller against Concordia Chicago (25-22, 23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-13).

The Sabres were able to hit .235 as they went on to cruise past Rockford.  Marian opened the match with a .438 hitting percentage in the first set with 16 kills to only two errors.  The Regents attempted to force a fourth set with a .257 hitting percentage, but MU was able to record another 16 kills in the final set to clinch their second sweep of the season.

Jessica Roberts had a match-high 14 kills with a .360 hitting percentage to lead the Sabres with Hannah Buntrock chipping in nine kills.  Katrina Jansen also had a match-high with 16 digs, while Morgan Dercks added nine digs to go with four service aces and 10 assists.

In the second match of the weekend Marian had a 2-1 lead but Concordia Chicago was able to come back for the five-set win. 

The Cougars jumped out to a 12-6 lead to open the first set, but a Marian timeout broke up their momentum to cut the deficit down to two shortly after at 16-14.  CUC was able to extend their lead out to 22-17 before the Sabres closed the gap again at 22-21 with four consecutive points.  The Cougars were able to close out the set, however, with three of the final four points.

The second set opened with a 16-15 CUC lead before Marian scored eight consecutive points to take a commanding 23-16 lead.  A Cougar timeout proved to be a momentum shifter as CUC scored the next six points to cut the deficit to one, but the Sabres closed out the set with two of the final three points capped off by a kill from Catelyn Brehm.

The Sabres jumped out to a 10-2 lead to start the third set and were able to hold onto the lead the entire set.  MU also was able to finish the set strong with four of the final five points.  The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair that played out to a 19-19 draw before the Cougars used four kills and a service ace to close the set out and force a fifth set.

Marian held the early lead in the winner take all fifth set at 12-11, but it was a Cougar timeout once again that proved to be the difference as CUC finished the set scoring four of the final five points.

Roberts once again posted 14 kills with Alexandra Meidl adding double-digits with 11. Jansen had a team-high 26 digs, while Amber Baker and Brehm chipped in 16 and 13 digs, respectively.  Buntrock had a strong match at the net with three solo blocks and four block assists.