Volleyball brings home Kent State Mizuno Tournament title

KENT, Ohio - 

Marshall volleyball took home the Kent State Mizuno Classic title by going unbeaten in every set with victories over Liberty and Kent State on Saturday and a win over St. Frances on Friday, also 3-0.
The Herd swept Liberty 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-15), then defeated Kent State in the championship match 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-20).
Marshall improved to 7-4 with the wins and now has its second tournament trophy of the year, after winning its own Thunder Invitational to start the season.
MU setter Sammie Bane was recognized as Most Outstanding Player following the tournament.

Libero Dorothy Rahal was awarded Defensive Player of the Tournament.
Outside hitter Laura Der earned All-Tournament honors as well.
“It was great to see our team run so smoothly and the MVP award that Sammie Bane received was truly deserved,” said head coach Mitch Jacobs.
“It was also very nice to see Dorothy Rahal recognized for a job very well done.”
Bane anchored the offense throughout the tournament with 109 assists, while recording a 12.11 assist per set average. She also recorded nine kills, three service aces, 17 digs, and three blocks.
Rahal led the team on defense with 42 digs during the three matches and ended the tournament with 4.67 digs per set.
Der had a team-high 49 kills and posted 5.44 kills per set on the weekend. The junior hitter was second on the team with 23 digs.
Senior outside hitter Katy Schad ended the tournament with 35 kills and led the team during the weekend with a .452 hitting percentage after only having seven errors on 62 attack attempts.
Freshman middle blocker Jillian Shemanski continued her blocking trends and led the team with 14 blocks.
She posted 1 block solo and 13 block assists for a 1.56 blocks per set average.
Against Kent State,tThe Herd offense recorded 53 total kills compared to Kent State’s 30.
Marshall ended the match with a .358 attack percentage, marking its most efficient team hitting effort on the season.
Bane had 44 assists and swung down a season-high five kills during the match.
Schad led the Herd with 19 kills and finished the match with a .371 attack percentage. She earned her fifth double-double of the season after posting a 10 digs.
Der followed with 18 kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Katie Potts added six kills while having a clean slate in errors, giving her a team-high .462 hitting percentage.
Defensivley, Rahal had 14 digs and Shemanski led with seven blocks.
The Herd accounted for nine service aces against Liberty and was led by Schad and Rahal with three aces from behind the line.
Der led with 18 kills, while adding nine digs and three blocks. She set the tone early, earning seven kills in the first and second set.
Bane had 37 assists and helped Marshall record a .306 team hitting percentage after only combining for 14 errors on 98 attack attempts.
“Individually, Sammie again set a beautiful match and our outsides really played well,”Jacobs said.
“Katy Schad was as effective as I could ever hope.”
Schad returned to the court after missing the Saint Francis (PA) match on Friday and put down 16 kills, and put up a season-high .556 hitting percentage after only recording one attack error in 27 attempts.
“Katie Potts was very steady and Jillian Shemanski was really working hard and was paid off with 12 blocks on the day,” said Jacobs.
“It was a great weekend, but we immediately start looking toward Tuesday night and Eastern Kentucky.”
Marshall will play Eastern Kentucky in the Cam Henderson Center at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.