ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Marian University women's volleyball (3-8, 1-0 NACC) defeated Luther in five sets and Blackburn in straight sets to open the Viking Classic.

A back-and-forth opening match of the Viking Classic saw Marian take the odd sets in a 25-22, 14-25, 25-20, 16-25, 15-10 victory.  The Sabre offense was especially dominant in the sets Marian came away on top recording 15 kills in both the first and third set and then seven kills in the fifth set. 

Junior Kaitlyn Merrill had a dominant match recording her second double-double of the season with a match-high 20 kills to go with 15 digs.  Freshman Harley Bartels had 10 kills for her first double-digit kill performance as a Sabre, while senior Anna Tapia had 13 digs to go with 36 assists.

Marian only got stronger as the day went on dominating Blackburn in the second match of the day with set scores of 25-19, 25-14, and 25-9.  Marian hit .395 for the match recording 19 of its 37 kills in the opening set.  On the defensive end, Marian held Blackburn to a -.069 hitting percentage with eight blocks and 42 digs.

Merrill and freshman Jenna Butschlick each had eight kills to pace the offense, while freshman Lauren Massie had six service aces.  Tapia filled up the stat sheet with 25 assists, five total blocks, five digs, and three service aces.  Senior Andrea Miller paced the back row with 10 digs. 

Marian takes on host Augustana (Ill.) at 10 a.m. and Monmouth at approximately 12:30 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 17.