Nov. 4, 2008

Box Score

Grand Rapids, Mich. - After two sets on Tuesday night, it looked as if the Golden Eagles would walk away with another victory over the Panthers. But a rally from the home team lifted DU to a thrilling 5-set comeback to complete their first win over Cornerstone in school history.

Cornerstone has been one of the most consistent programs in the NAIA over the past 10 years, but Davenport finally came out on top tonight to equal the Golden Eagles in the conference standings at 6-7. CU dominated sets one and two cruising to a 2-0 lead as they held the Davenport offense in check and used their two main hitters to keep the Panthers in check.

Looking at a possible three-set sweep, Davenport woke up in the third and used an early lead to post a 25-21 victory. Davenport held CU to a .148 hitting percentage in the win and posted a .308 of their own. The middles for Davenport then took over the match as Joyce Larioza and Kailey Schultz proved to be unstoppable for their opponent.

DU staged another late comeback in set four and fought back from a 23-21 deficit to post a 25-23 win to force a fifth and deciding set. Early on in the final set, it looked as if DU's rally would fall short as CU took an 8-5 lead at the side change, but 6 out of the next 7 points went to the Panthers and they lead 11-9. Two straight points from Cornerstone tied the match and Head Coach Rick Rykse opted to use a timeout to slow the Eagles. Davenport again fell behind, but this time regrouped and finished by scoring 5 of the last 7 points for the 16-14 win.

Larioza and Schultz accounted for 39 of the Panthers 66 kills as they hit for a .416 hitting percentage. Cornerstone was led by Holly Cousins who posted 34 kills herself on 80 attempts.

The win lifts DU into a 4th place tie with Cornerstone at 6-7 in the conference and the Panthers are now 15-24 overall. Davenport will host NAIA power Madonna University on Thursday night who will come into the match undefeated in the conference. Match time is set for 7:00 PM.