SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – In a battle of nationally ranked programs, No. 23 Spring Arbor University suffered its first setback of the season, falling 3-1 at home to No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan University on Saturday inside the McDonald Athletic Center.
The Cougars, who had opened the year with 13 straight wins, now stand at 13-1 overall and 1-1 in Crossroads League play.
(23) Spring Arbor 1, (7) Indiana Wesleyan 3
Scores: 21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20
Spring Arbor came out strong in front of its home crowd, grabbing the opening set 25-21. Indiana Wesleyan, however, answered the challenge of the Cougars, claiming the next three frames by scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-20 to hand SAU its first loss of the campaign.
Kendall Bollenbacher led the Cougars with 11 kills to go with 18 digs.
Isabelle Kirkendall added 10 kills on an efficient .250 hitting percentage while
Keely Hinzman tallied seven kills and three blocks.
Julia Mitchell made her presence felt at the net with a team-high seven blocks and libero
Aliza Munro anchored the back row with 20 digs.
As a team, SAU posted 81 digs and 11 blocks but was held to just a .079 hitting percentage on the afternoon while the Wildcats hit at a .134 clip and totaled 12 aces.
Spring Arbor (13-1, 1-1 CL) will look to bounce back when it hosts Goshen College (4-8, 0-2 CL) on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m.
