MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Milwaukee Area Technical College Stormers extended their home-court mastery to 21 straight matches Saturday at the Dig Pink Invitational, sweeping Bryant & Stratton (25-20, 25-16, 25-17) and UW-Whitewater (25-13, 25-14, 25-8) at Alverno College. The back-to-back victories lifted the Stormers to 26-6 overall and a perfect 7-0 at home, while erasing the sting of Friday's 3-0 loss to Sauk Valley.

Match 1:
MATC 3, Bryant & Stratton 0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-17)

The Stormers overcame an early 5-1 deficit by flipping a 12-9 hole into a 15-12 lead on a 6-0 run capped by consecutive kills from Rachel Krueger and Savannah Raymer that forced a Bryant & Stratton timeout. MATC then pushed the margin to 20-14 and closed the set on a 4-0 run highlighted by back-to-back aces from Kim Busateri.

"It should not take a timeout to get everybody's head back in the match, but it did," MATC head coach Shel DeLisle said. "As we finish the season, I want to see more leadership on the court and players stepping up to push their teammates to be better."

In the second set, the Stormers raced to a 6-2 lead before the Bobcats rallied within 12-10. A late flurry of kills and four service aces fueled a 9-3 run that sealed the set despite a match-low .172 hitting efficiency. MATC carried that momentum into the third frame, posting a .312 clip on 14 kills and four errors. Early strikes from Kendall Revolinski, Allison Chapman, Natalia Farrugia and Raymer propelled a 12-3 advantage and paved the way for the sweep.

"The third set saw us playing individuals in positions that they don't normally play and that was by design," DeLisle said. "When you put somebody into a position they don't normally play, they tend to pay more attention."

Freshman setters Hope Martens and Grace Adams keyed the Stormers' offense and defense, with Martens running the first unit to a match-high 15 assists and five digs, while Adams added 14 assists, six digs and a service ace.

First-year opposite Allison Chapman spearheaded the attack, pacing MATC with six kills on a .364 clip and chipping in both a solo block and a block assist for 7.5 points. In limited time, Savannah Raymer was lethal, turning five swings into kills at an impressive .375 clip while also contributing three block assists.

Anchoring the backcourt, libero Kim Busateri delivered a team-best 16 digs, repeatedly extending rallies and keeping the Stormers in system.

"Busateri did a great job," DeLisle said. "She had double-digit digs and I think only missed two serve-receives out of 20. That's a good match for her and she carries us quite often. Not to mention she had five aces with no misses on the service line."

Match 2:
MATC 3, UW-Whitewater 0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-8)

The Stormers dominated UW-Whitewater, hitting above .290 in every set to win each by at least 11 points. MATC posted .294 in the first set, .292 in the second and .321 in the third.

"We had a talk between matches about always showing up," DeLisle said. "The players were more disciplined in the second match and executed what we practiced."

In the opener, MATC erased a 5-5 tie with six service aces and multiple UW-Whitewater errors. After a timeout, Hope Martens served consecutive aces to go up 17-9, and Busateri added two more to extend the lead to 23-11. The Stormers closed the set comfortably.

"I think we started communicating more and being more confident in running different plays because we were just kind of running straight sets and it was a bit chaotic early," Busateri said about the slow start. "Once we got our groove, it was just good from there on out and I think the momentum carried into the rest of the match as well."

UW-Whitewater led 5-2 in the second set on three straight aces, but MATC rallied to 10-10 and finished on a 15-4 run. Farrugia contributed a kill, solo block and ace, and Busateri added two aces to help MATC post a .321 efficiency with 11 kills and two errors.

Kayleah Laughlin led the offense with nine kills on a .318 clip, two aces, five digs and a solo block for a match-high 12 points. Farrugia had five kills, three aces, a solo block and a digs for nine points. Rachel Krueger added four kills, four digs, two aces and a block for seven points.

"Laughlin and Krueger are really good at getting back and being able to put any type of set down, whether it's out of system from me or whether it's a chaotic play," Busareri said of her teammates. "They both stay calm and you can trust them to get the job done.

Busateri anchored the backcourt with a team-best 19 digs and five aces. Allison Chapman chipped in five kills on a .625 clip and one dig for five points.

Stormers Raise Funds for Side-Out Foundation

In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, fans who donated to the Stormers' Dig Pink fundraising page received a pink T-shirt. The campaign backed the Side-Out Foundation, which funds metastatic breast cancer research through volleyball events. 

UP NEXT
MATC (26-6) travels to Madison College at 6 p.m. Wednesday to face No. 18 Madison WolfPack.