ALBION, Mich. – Taylor Rosenthal terminated four points and assisted on a block with setter Grace VanDorn in the fifth set to lead Albion College past Olivet College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association volleyball match.
Albion rallied to win the match 23-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-17, 15-4.
With the victory, Albion (12-8 overall, 6-4 MIAA) remains tied with Saint Mary's College for third place in the standings. The Britons, who travel to Ada, Ohio, for Friday non-league matches against Ohio Northern University and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, have an Oct. 20 date with Saint Mary's.
Albion needed to match Olivet's scrappy play to emerge with the win Wednesday night.
"We made a couple of defensive adjustments, which I was proud of the team for making during the course of the game as opposed to during a timeout," Albion Coach Kristin de St. Aubin said. "We started to make a difference against their outside hitters and we passed the ball consistently."
Libero Monica Shuk led the Britons defensive effort with 22 digs, but she received support from Angela Adams, Kaitlyn Gilchrist and Rachel Zawodny with 13 digs apiece.
Shuk also chipped in with the passing game with five assists and she scored two aces.
Zawodny served four of Albion's 13 aces.
Albion finally wrestled control of the match with a five-point run to seize a 14-9 lead in the fourth set. VanDorn served up an ace and Kate Winter terminated consecutive points during the run.
Albion scored six in a row to build a 9-3 lead in the fifth set and it never looked back.
Winter led the Britons with 12 kills while hitting .296 (12-4-27). Rosenthal produced 11 kills and five blocks. Kelsey Gustafson had a nice all-around match with 10 kills, seven digs and three blocks.
