COLUMBUS, Ohio – The host Crusaders split a pair of matches to wrap up play at the 2008 Capital Mid-Month Madness on Saturday at the Capital Center. CU fell to #25 Mount St. Joseph, 0-3 (22-25, 17-25, 23-25) before defeating Nazareth, 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-20).
Capital (14-3) has now won 11 of its last 13 matches with the only two losses coming to teams that have been nationally ranked.
In the loss to #25 Mount St. Joseph, CU was held to just .122 hitting as a team while the Crusader defense limited the Lions to a .182 mark overall. Junior libero Sara Doebel (Clyde, Ohio/Clyde HS) led all players with 17 digs while senior Jackie Helm (Lancaster, Ohio/Fisher Catholic HS) finished with 15 digs, seven kills, three blocks, and two service aces.
Freshman Emily Heitmeyer (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa Glandorf HS) hit .450 while racking up nine kills, one block and one service for the Capital offense. Senior Kara Guster (Orrville, Ohio/Orrville HS) added 13 assists, eight digs, one block and one service ace in a losing effort.
Capital rebounded to sweep Nazareth behind a double-double from Helm. The outside hitter posted 12 kills while hitting at a .423 clip with 11 digs and two service aces.
Doebel also had another sold effort defensively as she was the match leader in digs with 15 while fellow junior Allison Hostetler (Dalton, Ohio/Dalton HS) and senior Kelly Steinman (New Bremen, Ohio/New Bremen HS) posted three blocks apiece.
The duo of junior Jenna Zumberger (DeGraff, Ohio/Fairlawn HS) and Guster led the Crusader offense to a .213 team hitting percentage with 17 and 12 assists respectively.
Capital wrapped up the weekend with a 3-1 record to finish second at the 2008 Capital Mid-Month Madness. Hostetler and Doebel represented CU on the All-Tournament Team.
The Crusaders will begin OAC play on Tuesday as they travel to Heidelberg. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET