GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Golden Eagles will play three matches this week including a home conference matchup with receiving votes Madonna that will be played for a much greater cause. Cornerstone will be raising awareness for the fight against Pediatric Brain Cancer in their home match Wednesday before they travel to (21) Indiana Wesleyan for a tri-match on Friday with Saint Francis (Ill.) and the host Wildcats. For more information on live video and stat links for the week visit
HERE.
Cornerstone vs. Cancer Game Details
Cornerstone is looking to raise awareness and funds to support the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and Helen Devos Children's Hospital. CU is asking fans to wear gold at the contest, as well as consider donating
HERE, as the team has a goal to raise $3,500 as part of the foundations $300,000 goal for the 2021 year.
Last Week Recap
Cornerstone was originally scheduled to play four contests last week, but only got through two of them as COVID-19 protocol at Rochester forced the postponement of the Golden Eagles WHAC match with the Warriors, and the cancelation of the CU match against Goshen. In the two games CU played, they recorded a pair of sweeps to get back on the sweep streak and improve to 11-10, 6-2 WHAC on the year. More information to come in the coming weeks on a reschedule date for the road match with Rochester.
When Fully Healthy…
Cornerstone, when the full roster has been in attendance for the conference season have recorded six conference sweeps and gone 6-0. The only two losses for CU came in games that were affected by COVID-19 protocol. Junior libero
Patsy Morris has been a key factor in the Golden Eagles success defensively, recording 309 digs for 4.77 per set.
Morris Nears 1500
Junior
Patsy Morris continues to rise up the all-time CU dig ranks, as she is 26 digs away from 1500 in her career. For her to crack the top 10 in program history, she needs 1656 digs, which would knock Kayla Wilson off the program top 10 list. Julie Bruisie is the all-time program dig leader with 3474 from the year's 2004-2006.
Dykema Block Party Continues
Junior
Kaylee Dykema continues to lead the nation in blocks per set with 1.67, after 10 blocks this past week. She recorded just two in the win over UM-Dearborn, but then added eight more at Lawrence Tech last Friday.
Scouting Madonna
The receiving votes Crusaders are powered by the defending WHAC Player of the Year and fifth year senior Jodie Kelly who ranks 21
st in the nation with 246 kills through 19 matches. Madonna has gone 15-4 in 19 games and is 7-1 in the WHAC, with their only loss coming last time out vs. Indiana Tech in straight sets. As a team, Madonna is an outstanding offensive program, ranking 21
st in the country with a .231 hitting percentage.
Scouting St. Francis
The Saints have gone 10-11 so far this season and 6-3 in the Chicagolands Collegiate Athletic Conference. USF started 1-8 on the year but have gone 9-3 since, similar to how the Golden Eagles started the year. St. Francis has a lot of youth around two outstanding senior middle hitters as Stephanie Woods and Lauren Stefanski each have 100+ kills and 50+ blocks so far this season. Stefanski is just ahead of CU junior
Kaylee Dykema with 89 total blocks to rank 6
th in the nation this year.
Scouting Indiana Wesleyan
The (21) Wildcats are 11-3 to start the year and 8-3 in the Crossroads League, going 6-0 at home so far this season. After a 28-12 season in 2018, IWU hit a new level in 2019 making it all the way to the NAIA National Quarterfinals in 2019. They followed that with a 21-3 record in 2020 and a loss in pool play at NAIA Nationals. Head Coach Candace Moats is in her 19
thseason at the helm and is now working with a very young roster in 2021 that has 10 freshmen. IWU ranks 14
th in the country with a .248 hitting percentage, making very few errors as they are led by sophomore outside Martina Demarchi who has 134 kills and averages 3.19 per set.
Volleyball Contact:
Jesse Campbell
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