FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TOLEDO, OH – In their final match of the Toledo Tournament, the La Salle Explorers topped the Niagara Purple Eagles 3-1 to move above the .500 mark. The Explorers stand at 4-3, while Niagara remains winless at 0-7.

Sophomore Meredith Marakovits (Walnutport, PA/Allentown Central Catholic) led the way along with freshman Samantha Takacs (Columbus, OH/Bishop Watterson) dropping 16 kills each on the Purple Eagles. Marakovits also added four digs, while Takacs turned in 16 digs and two aces for the Explorers. Junior Amanda Woods (Cincinnati, OH/McNicholas) assisted on 55 La Salle kills.

La Salle also put Robyn Wright (Salem, OH/Salem) and Lauren Woods (Akron, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Chrisitan Academy) in double-digit kills with 12 and 11 kills respectively. The Wright/Woods team also joined forces on defense, with Wright tallying one solo and four assisted blocks, while Woods added two assisted blocks.

Also on defense, junior Caitlin DeJong (Lansing, IL/Marian Catholic) led La Salle with 20 digs, while sophomore Kara Branz (Streator, IL/Streator Township) added 16.

Senior Bethany Pruetz (Oxford, MI/Oxford) recorded three kills and served up three aces to aid in La Salle’s victory.

Niagara’s Erin Graham topped all players with 19 kills and tallied a team-high 16 digs. Teammated Michelle LeSouder contributed 18 kills, while Jessica McAndrew posted 15 digs for the Purple Eagles.