FORT WAYNE, Ind. - No. 9 Indiana Wesleyan volleyball survived a five set thriller with Cornerstone on Friday evening. The Wildcats scored three straight in set two to pick up a 28-26 victory and avoided a mid-season upset in the fifth with a 15-10 win. Abbigail Porter returned to the court and put in a career night with 63 assists, the most by any Wildcat since 2019.
 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Location: Turnstone Center | Fort Wayne, Ind.
• Records: IWU - 17-2  | Cornerstone - 10-8
• NAIA Top-25 Ranking: IWU - #9 | CU - NR

MATCH VITALS

• Cornerstone used a 6-0 run to take a 12-8 lead that they would never give up despite IWU pulling within a point several times. 
• CU looked like they would take a commanding 2-0 match lead after using a 5-0 run to go up 20-17. Indiana Wesleyan responded with an 1-6 run to steal the second set.
• The red and gray held control for most of the third set, but an 8-3 run at the end of the set gave the Golden Eagles momentum heading into the fourth set.
• CU grabbed the lead at 6-5 and held it the rest of the way, taking the set 25-17.
• The Wildcats earned a 4-0 lead to start the fifth set and forced Cornerstone to burn an early timeout. The Golden Eagles battled within a single point at 10-9 but Martina Demarchi and Marissa Mullins combined to score 4 of the final 5 Wildcat points ina 15-10 victory.
• Cornerstone held down the Wildcat offense with 16 blocks and forced IWU into 32 errors.
• Demarchi and Eva Joldersma combined for 43 kills with Demarchi leading the way with 23.
• Mullins led IWU with 4 blocks.
• Cadee Notter tallied a season high 27 digs. Demarchi added 16 and Abbigail Porter posted 13.
• Porter recorded a career high 63 assists.

LOOKING FORWARD

• IWU is back at the Turnstone Center facing Indiana Tech at 12:00 PM and Rio Grande at 4:00 PM.

NEXT HOME MATCH

• IWU returns home on October 2nd to face Goshen at 7:00 PM.
• Links for live stats and video can be found at IWUWIldcats.com.
• Individuals looking to attend can purchase tickets at IWUWildcats.com/Tickets

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