CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A gritty, scrappy Albion College volleyball team rallied all night long to pick up a pair of wins in the Case Western Reserve Invitational. Albion defeated Earlham, 3-1, in the first match before going on to defeat the host Spartans in five sets in the second match. 

Trailing 9-2 in the fifth set of the CWRU game, the Britons used a big run to turn a large deficit into a 15-12 victory in the decisive set.
 
KEY STATS

Sophomore Mariah Brenz had a stellar night. Against CWRU, she dished out 51 assists -- the fifth most in a single game in Albion history. Prior to that, Brenz finished with 34 assists against the Quakers. Defensively, the sophomore finished with 16 and 23 digs, respectively. 

Chloe Webber was a consistent force in the middle, adding 11 kills against Earlham and a team-high 17 versus CWRU. 

GAME ONE: Albion 3 Earlham 1

The Quakers rattled the Britons in set one, taking the opener 25-16. The loss sparked Albion, as the Britons went on to win the next three sets for their first win of the 2021 season. 

In the third set, the Brits attacked at a sparkling .412 mark. 

In addition to the contributions from Brenz and Webber, Albion received a number of good performances -- both offensively and defensively. Kameron Haley and Ava Smith totaled 12 digs each. Sophomores Olivia Alexander, Kaylynne Nicholson and Jenna Schienke gave the Brits plenty of offense. The trio ended with 10, 11 and eight kills in the match.

GAME TWO: Albion 3 Case Western Reserve 2

Similar to their first match of the night, Albion dropped the opening set before going on to win the next two. With the Spartans holding all of the momentum in a 25-19 win in the fourth set, the teams battled in a scrappy fifth set. 

CWRU raced out to an early 9-2 lead, forcing Albion to call its second timeout of the set. With things looking bleak for the Britons, Albion got the ball back off a kill from Alexander, trailing 11-5. Jesse Hepner's kill was followed by an ace off the hand of Brenz, as the Spartans called a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Albion scored six straight points to turn an 11-7 deficit into a 13-11 lead. During the run, Brenz had two service aces while a distributed offense helped pace the momentum. Schienke, Nicholson, Hepner and Alexander all added kills in the run. 

Holding a 14-12 advantage, Alexander secured the Britons' victory with a kill off a pass from Haley to complete the two-match sweep against a pair of tough opponents. 
The Britons were bolstered by a breakout game from Hepner. The junior middle contributed nine kills and six total blocks, attacking at a team-best .450. 

Nicholson tallied a double-double, slamming 14 kills and registering 12 digs. Alexander added 16 kills from the outside for the Brits. 

Defensively, Albion was led by Smith who had a career-high 18 digs in the match. Haley and Courtney Companion added 12 digs apiece.

Albion wraps up the two-day invitational tomorrow morning with a 10 a.m. match against John Carroll.