INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - No. 20 Indiana Wesleyan volleyball dropped a heartbreaker in five set loss to No. 7 Marian.  This was the only five-set match that Marian has faced this season.  Marian only has one loss on the year coming from Bethel on October 30.  This is the third year that these two teams have gone head-to-head for Crossroads League tournament title.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
LOSS 3-2: 25-21, 18-25, 25-17, 18-25, 13-15

• Wildcats came out swinging with Ana Collar and Victoria Johnson each posting five kills in set one.
• Set two saw a shift in momentum to the Knights.  Wildcats posted their lowest kill percentage on the night at .081.
• IWU started fresh in the third set with a 6-0 run.  Knights called a timeout to stop the bleeding.  Coming out of the timeout Knights had an attack error followed by two Collar service aces pushed Wildcats run to 9-0. Knights responded with a few points of their own before a Paige Thibault ace which ensued another five-point run for the Wildcats.
• Fourth set was back and forth until Knights when on a 7-1 run to end the set.
• Set five was the closest of the night.  Neither team had more than a three-point lead through the set.  Wildcats led 8-5 before a Marian timeout which switched momentum to the home team.  Tied at 13-13, Knights connected on a kill and an attack error from IWU ended the match.

 
INSIDE THE BOX

• Wildcats posted a season-high 64 kills on the match while hitting a low .191 kill percentage.  Collar connected on 16 kills, followed by Victoria Johnson with 13 and Macy Putoff and Martina Demarchi with 10 a piece.
• Olivia Zawadzki matched her career-best 54 assists.
• Paige Thibault collected a new career-best 30 digs.  
• Wildcats posted eight service aces, led by Collar with four and Thibault with two.

 
MOATS PERSPECTIVE

• "Tonight, was all about heart!  What a tremendous effort by such a young team!!  I was so proud of the girls!  We are looking forward to competing in the NAIA National Tournament!!"

 
WHAT'S NEXT

• IWU has an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament.  They will find out on Monday at 11am EST who they will play on Saturday, November 20.  Stay tuned to IWUWildcats.com for the latest information