Oct. 20, 2009
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Davenport won the first two sets on Tuesday night but failed to close out the third as #18 Madonna rallied to take the match in five thrilling sets. The loss, which is the second of the year in 5-sets to the Crusaders, drops DU to 16-14 on the year and 4-6 in the WHAC.
The opening set was going point by point until DU went on a 7-2 run highlighted by two kills from freshman Kelse Moon (Fremont, Mich.) as the Panthers took a 13-8 lead. The Crusaders came right back and tied the score at 17 and eventually took an 18-17 lead, but the Panthers got a huge kill from Autumn Williams (Fruitport, Mich.) which was followed by an ace from Heather Deal and DU closed out Madonna 25-21.
Set two started out the same for the Panthers as they jumped out to an 11-7 lead after three straight errors by the Crusaders. But again, Madonna rallied and tied the game at 17 all and took an 18-17 lead only to see Williams get a big kill once again.
Kelse Moon then picked up two blocks and a kill to keep DU within striking distance. With the score tied 25-25, Kassie Graves (White Cloud, Mich.) came up with a kill of her own but Madonna came right back to tie the score. DU would remain strong though as they won the final two points on two straight points from Ashley Penny (New Hudson, Mich.) as DU went up 2-0 with the 28-26 win.
The third set was filled with tension right from the start as DU was so close to closing out the 18th ranked Crusaders but they fell behind after being tied at 10 and played catch up for the remainder of the set. Trailing 24-23 and facing a set point, Penny collected another kill to force extra points.
The two teams would trade points over the next few minutes and DU took a late lead at 27-26 after a Williams kill and MU error. On the next point, Madonna stayed alive with an amazing dig from the backrow and ultimately won the point and closed DU out with two straight points after that.
With the momentum clearly back on the Crusaders side, Madonna took charge from the get go in the fourth set leading by 3-4 points for most of the set and was really never challenged and ended up winning 25-20.
Set 5 was much of the same story for the Panthers as they found themselves trailing big early and never got close losing 15-5.
After hitting .194, .243 and .277 in the first three sets, DU's offense struggled down the stretch hitting for only .139 and -.056 in the final two sets.
Three players, Kelse Moon, Ashley Penny and Kassie Graves, all collected double digit kills with Moon leading the way with 16.
Kelse also was dominating at the net posting a season high seven assist blocks and one solo. Kayla Vandermolen (Cedar Springs, Mich.) finished the night with 44 assists and 10 digs for the double-double and Courtney DePriest (Grand Rapids, Mich.) led the team with 17 digs.
