ALBION, Mich. – The MSOE women's volleyball team kicked off the 2026 season with a bang, taking down St. John Fisher, an NCAA tournament team season ago and receiving votes in the AVCA national poll, in a five-set battle.
RESULT
MSOE RAIDERS – 3
RV St. John Fisher - 2
HOW IT HAPPENED
- MSOE (0-1, 0-0 NACC) found their lone lead in the first set early, going up 3-2 after an attacking error from St. John Fisher (1-1, 0-0 Empire 8). The Cardinals tied it back up on the succeeding point before extending it to 13-8 at the midway point. The Cardinals grew their lead to six at 17-11, making it as large as seven at 22-15. At set point, miscues from the Cardinals gave the Raiders momentum to come back and steal the set until a kill from the sealed it, winning 25-21.
- The Cardinals came out of the gates in the second set to grab the early lead until the Raiders overtook it with an ace from Natalie Martinez to make it 9-8. A kill from Brooke Fledderman extended the lead to two, as the two teams went back and forth for much of the set. Leading 20-18, the Raiders closed on a 6-1 run, capped off by an ace from Ella Notheisen to win set two 25-19.
- The Cardinals came back out in the third with the early lead, holding it until a kill from Alyssa Rusch put the Raiders ahead 7-6. The Cardinals took the lead back two points later, holding it until the midway point when a kill from Katie Moser tied things at 13. From there, the Cardinals pulled away to win 25-19.
- Ava Fischer went on a run just before the midway point of set four, collecting three kills on a 5-1 run to lead 11-6. Emma Schattschneider led the Raiders from there, adding in a pair of kills to go up 19-11, adding the final kill to force a fifth set, winning 25-20. In the fifth, it was neck and neck before a 5-0 run, capped with an ace from Fischer, put the Raiders ahead 8-4 until the Cardinals made a 4-0 run of their own to tie it back up. The Raiders grabbed the narrow lead back before closing on a 4-0 run with an ace from Notheisen to cap things off.
MSOE STAT TRACKER
Kills –
Emma Schattschneider (20)
Digs –
Natalie Martinez (30)
Assists –
Maddie Abel (42)
Aces –
Natalie Martinez (3)
Blocks –
Maddie Abel &
Alyssa Rusch (1)
WHO'S ON DECK
The Raiders will close out the Albion Invite tomorrow, kicking off with University of Pittsburgh-Bradford at 2:30 ET before rounding out facing the host school Albion College at 4:30 ET.
For up-to-the-minute MSOE Raiders news, visit us at
www.MSOERaiders.com. You can also follow the Red & White on Twitter
@MSOE_Raiders and
@msoe_raiders on Instagram.
