SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University volleyball team opened the 2019 campaign in exciting fashion with a three-set sweep of the University of Michigan-Dearborn on Wednesday night inside the McDonald Athletic Center.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Spring Arbor def. Michigan-Dearborn 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-11)

LOCATION: McDonald Athletic Center | Spring Arbor, Mich.

RECORDS: Spring Arbor 1-0, Michigan-Dearborn 0-1

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Spring Arbor never trailed in the match on its way to its sixth straight win over Michigan-Dearborn dating back to the 2013 season.
• The Cougars held a slim 8-7 lead in the first set before stringing together nine consecutive points to put some distance between themselves and the Wolverines. Alison Ford registered three kills during the scoring spurt while Sarah Schmid added two.
• Michigan-Dearborn stayed with SAU until late in the second set. The Cougars were clinging to a 22-20 advantage, but tallied the next three points behind a pair of kills from senior Sydney Ritz to close out the frame and take a commanding 2-0 lead.
• Freshman Emily Johnson served up six straight points to begin the third set to help give SAU a commanding lead and the Cougars would never look back.
• Ritz finished with 10 kills on 20 swings and a .450. She also had two service aces.
• Schmid followed seven kills while Ford had five kills and Maggie Watson had four.
• Setters Emily Martin and Sarah Eliason combined to hand out 21 assists. Eliason also added 10 digs for her first career double-double.
• The Cougars hit .226 as a team while holding the Wolverines to a -.029 hitting percentage.

UP NEXT

Spring Arbor will travel to Adrian, Michigan to compete in the Siena Heights University Invitational on Friday, Aug. 30 and Saturday, Aug. 31. On Friday, the Cougars will take on the University of Northwestern Ohio at 4 p.m. and Rochester College at 6 p.m. The tournament wraps up for SAU on Saturday with matches against Indiana University East at 11 a.m. and host Siena Heights at 3 p.m.

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