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Redettes sweep Braves

Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Gladstone’s Allie Roman blocks a shot by Marquette’s Taylor Ragusett Monday at Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — The Marquette volleyball team outpaced the Gladstone Braves 3-0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-18) here Monday in Great Northern Conference action.

The first set was tied five times before 20 total points were on the board. The Braves’ Mackenzie Parish tied it, for the last time that set, at 8 with an ace. However, a five-point service run from Marquette’s Tellena Nystrom gave the Redettes the lead and momentum to finish the set.

“I would say our serving and passing overall (are where we executed well tonight),” Redettes’ coach Ann Crandell-Williams said. “I guess it always goes back to that for me. There were a few times where we weren’t communicating very well, but our consistent serving really helped us out.”

Marquette (22-2) maintained that momentum into the second set and kept in front of the Braves the whole way thanks to service runs from Seiler Hruska and Nystrom.

The teams hung closer together in the third set.

“We had strong service, and we had some good solid blocking tonight,” Braves’ coach Bill Lawrence said. “Ahna Larson had a great game. She threw up a lot of great hits.”

The Braves (2-4) kept within a few points of Marquette until the middle of the final set when a short run from the Redettes’ Maria Millado gave them an 18-13 lead.

“We’re running a fast offense, so our middles are hitting some ones and threes,” Crandell-Williams said. “I mean, Aspen (Michelin) and Maria — they can jump. We just have girls that are athletic enough to execute that kind of offense. It’s fun and they enjoy doing it.

“It was a team win. Everybody got to play, and everybody played well.”

Gladstone closed in to 19-16 on a service error and a forced net violation, but still found difficulty keeping possession. The Braves grabbed two more points before the set and game finished with a tip over from Marquette’s Taylor Ragusett.

The Braves also played without 6-foot-3 junior Megan Crow.

“I feel like the team filled in a void tonight,” Lawrence said. “We had a gap in the team tonight, and we had some players step up into some positions they’re not used to. I feel like they performed well in those positions.

“In the third set, the girls played more as a team, and they seemed to have better communication. They just seemed to really want it, and they wanted to make it as close as possible.”

Gladstone hosts Westwood tonight at 7 p.m while Marquette visits Northern Michigan University for a tournament Saturday.

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