GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The middle blockers of Kylie Barron and Eliza Thelen recorded career nights for the Golden Eagles, but it was not enough to complete the comeback, falling in five sets vs. Madonna. CU ends their home season 9-6 inside Mol Arena as they sit at 13-15, 8-10 WHAC on the year. Cornerstone looks to rebound in a crucial WHAC Tournament seeding game at Concordia tomorrow at 1 p.m. 

Game Recap: Cornerstone – 2 Madonna – 3 (14-25, 23-25, 25-14, 25-23, 10-15) 
Set One:

• Madonna got off to a strong start inside Mol Arena, scoring five of the first six points behind kills from Sophia Mainhardt and Jaeda Porter. 
• The energy started to grow from the Golden Eagle crowd after a loud block from Kylie Barron and Emmalee Murphy cut the deficit to three. 
• Back-to-back Madonna kills would force a Golden Eagle timeout trailing 11-6. 
• After the timeout, the Crusaders would go on a 3-1 run to double-up the Golden Eagles on a kill from Kira Buza, 14-7. 
• A block from MU's Hannah Keenan increased the lead to 17-8 and forced the second Cornerstone timeout. 
• Eliza Thelen and Kylie Barron recorded late kills, but the set was too far out of reach for Cornerstone as they fell 25-14 in set one. 

Set Two:

• CU got off to a strong start in set two that turned into a set of runs. Kylie Andras put the Golden Eagles on top 6-3 with an early service ace. 
• An Eliza Thelen kill maintained the three-point CU advantage at 10-7. 
• Madonna then responded with a 10-1 run to take a 17-11 lead. 
• A block from Madonna's Sophia Mainhardt increased the Crusader advantage further at 20-12. 
• Cornerstone trying to find any sort of answer then mixed it up allowing middle Kylie Barron to serve. She recorded her first career service ace as part of a Golden Eagle run that brought them all the way back within three, 22-19. 
• Kills from Gabrielle VerBerkmoes, Jada Thomas, and Emmalee Murphy put Cornerstone right there trailing 24-23. Madonna would use a timeout. 
• After the timeout, a slick dump kill from Karlee Stoll would end the set in the Crusaders favor, 25-23. 

Set Three:

• Both sides made significant changes going into the third set. The most significant change was Cornerstone going to Alli Pickard at the libero position. 
• The first multi-point lead for either side did not come until 10 points into the set, as Eliza Thelen recorded a kill to make it 6-4. 
• Cornerstone continued to slowly add to their lead. A 3-0 run that saw three straight Madonna attack errors made it 13-8 and forced a Crusader timeout. 
• Dyllan Hanna later added a service ace to increase the Cornerstone advantage to six. 
• The Golden Eagles continued to add on and forced Madonna to another timeout. Kylie Barron found herself involved in a block and a kill to get the Golden Eagles to set point at 24-13. 
• An overpass kill from Aubrey Lenz ended the set in CU's favor 25-14 to force a fourth set. 

Set Four:

• Momentum stayed with the Golden Eagles to start set four. Emmalee Murphy recorded two clean kills followed by a slide kill from Kylie Barron to lead 5-1. 
• Kylie Barron continued her dominant play out of the middle with two more kills and an ace that helped increase the advantage to 9-3. The crowd's energy would return with Madonna using their first timeout. 
• After Madonna cut the deficit to three, Emmalee Murphy put a ball away from the back row to give Cornerstone a 10-6 advantage. 
• Jaeda Porter helped Madonna respond with three straight to force Cornerstone's first timeout at 11-9. 
• Madonna was eventually able to tie the set back up at 15 on a kill from Hope Schriber. Another Schriber kill gave them their first lead of the set and forced a Golden Eagle timeout. 
• After the Crusaders held the lead almost to the finish line, Alli Pickard used a service ace to tie things back up at 23. 
• A long rally then landed in favor of the Golden Eagles to earn set point, and they immediately took advantage using a block from Kylie Barron and Emmalee Murphy to take set four 25-23. Cornerstone ended set four on a 6-1 run to force a fifth. 

Set Five:

• Madonna was the first team to get out to a multi-point advantage, using a kill from Kira Buza and a pair of Golden Eagle attack errors to lead 5-2. 
• A block from Aubrey Lenz and Kylie Barron capped a Cornerstone 3-0 response to tie the set back up at five. 
• Kira Buza recorded a service ace to give the Crusaders an 8-6 edge as the two teams switched sides. 
• Tauri Hintz recorded an MU kill that made it 11-8 and forced the second CU timeout. 
• Madonna was able to cruise to the finish line, surviving the near reverse sweep, with a 15-10 set five victory. 

 
By the Numbers:
15/13 – Kylie Barron recorded a career high with 15 kills, while Eliza Thelen did the same with 13 kills. 
.412/3/5 – Kylie Barron added a team high .412 hitting percentage, three aces, and five blocks in the loss. 
23 – Alli Pickard had a team high 23 digs. 
 
What's Next?
Cornerstone ends the regular season on the road with a game at Concordia tomorrow at 1 p.m. and another contest at UM-Dearborn a week from tomorrow at 1 p.m.  
 
Volleyball Contact: Jesse Campbell 
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