The No. 4 seed Cornerstone volleyball team lost a disappointing 3-0 match in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference semifinal to the No. 16 nationally ranked Madonna University squad on Saturday morning.  The Crusaders came into the match with a 32-7 overall record and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.  The Golden Eagles end their season with a 25-10 overall record and 8-3 in conference play.

During set one, Madonna came out strong winning set one 25-15 from Cornerstone.  After an early 8-4 lead, the Crusaders maintained their dominant play.  The Golden Eagles hit at a -.029 pace while the Crusaders attacked with a .235 percent.

The Golden Eagle squad was not going to go away easily with the second set going back and forth.  There were 17 ties and seven lead changes.  Madonna had set point at 24-22 but Cornerstone was able to pull the score to 24-24.  A team block by Madonna ended the second set, 27-25, giving Madonna the 2-0 lead.

In the third and final set, the score was close up until Madonna took a 12-9 lead from Cornerstone.  After a 4-0 Golden Eagle run, Cornerstone pulled ahead 21-20.  However, Madonna used a kill and a service ace to force match point ending the match, 25-23. 

For the match, Madonna hit .203 in earning 48 kills, while Cornerstone posted 36 kills at a .133 pace.  Cornerstone served up two aces compared to Madonna's four aces.  Cailie Johnson led the Golden Eagles with 14 kills while Becky Albrecht and Murphy Heyer each had eight during the loss.  Kim Weaver dished out 33 assists for Cornerstone.

The finals for the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference volleyball tournament will take place Saturday.  Madonna will face Davenport with match time set for 6 p.m.