ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University volleyball team opened its 2015 season by splitting a pair of matches at the Concordia University Kickoff Classic on Friday afternoon. The Cougars dropped a four-set match to host Concordia before bouncing back with a three-set sweep of Rochester College to give head coach Betsy Martinez her first career coaching victory.

In the opener against Concordia, sophomore Leah Rose and freshman Kasey Follis led the way each posting a double-double. Rose recorded 10 kills with 12 digs while Follis finished with 10 kills and 17 assists. Junior Rebekah Kujat followed with nine kills and fellow junior Alexis Long added five. Freshman Annica Stotz helped fuel the attack with 18 assists in her collegiate debut.

Defensively, junior libero Taylor Johnston registered a career-high 18 digs while senior Kayleight Bytwerk scooped up nine. Sophomore Courtney Kyser and Long were a force at the net collecting 11 and eight blocks, respectively.

Against Rochester, Rose paced the Cougars, once again, with a team-high 12 kills to go along with her 12 digs. Kujat slammed down 10 kills while Stotz and Follis orchestrated the offense with 20 and 15 assists.

Johnston led the defensive effort with 16 digs and Stotz added seven. At the net, Kyser totaled five blocks and sophomore Olivia Landis closed the match with three.

Spring Arbor (1-1) will jump right back into action tomorrow when it kicks off day two of the tournament against Siena Heights University at 11 a.m.

Volleyball Contact: Chris Bauman | 517-750-6504 | christopher.bauman@arbor.edu
SAU Athletics: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Volleyball: Twitter | Facebook