Recap: Drews, Zilio Pereira lead team to Golden Set win, 71-67
MADISON, Wisconsin — Team Drews used a 12-kill performance from outside hitter Dani Drews and a double-double from outside hitter Natália Zilio Pereira to outlast Team Thompson for a 71-67 Golden Set victory in the second match of Saturday’s AU Pro Volleyball Championship twinbill at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center.
KEY MOMENT
After Team Thompson battled back to force the Golden Set with a 25-18 victory in the third set, Team Drews battled back to win the match with a 5-1 verdict in the Golden Set.
LEADERBOARD UPDATE
Opposite Jordan Thompson will enter Sunday’s season finale with a 593-point advantage at the top of the leaderboard, while Zilio Pereira vaulted five spots into third place with 2,349 total points. Despite the victory, Drews dropped into fourth place, but trails Zilio Pereira by just 18 points.
GOLDEN GIRLS
Team Drews and Team Thompson battled to a 66-66 tie through regulation, forcing the fifth “Golden Set” in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history.
TEAM DREWS NOTES
- Outside hitter Dani Drews finished with 12 kills, marking her 11th consecutive double-digit kill effort … Drews and opposite Jordan Thompson are the only players in the league to post 10 or more kills in every match this season.
- Drews has now won four of her last five matches after posting a 2-4 record in her first six outings.
- Outside hitter Natália Zilio Pereira authored her second double-double of the season after finishing with 10 kills and 13 digs … It marked the fifth time in 11 matches Zilio Pereira has tallied 10 or more kills in addition to being her fifth outing with 10 or more digs.
- Zilio Pereira, who earned her fourth Match MVP award of the season, also registered 200 or more leaderboard points for the fifth time this season after closing Saturday’s match with 323 points … It is also her second outing with 300 or more points.
- Setter Marlie Monserez, who has won eight of her last nine matches after opening the season with back-to-back losses, claimed the third Match MVP award of her career after collecting MVP 2 plaudits with 32 assists and nine digs.
- Monserez has collected 200 or more leaderboard points in four of her last five matches after compiling 204 points.
Next Match: Sunday, November 2 vs. Team Hentz | 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT
TEAM THOMPSON NOTES
- Setter Natalia Valentin-Anderson became the first player in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history to reach 2,000 career assists after dishing out 36 assists against Team Thompson on Saturday … Valentin-Anderson, the league’s all-time leader in assists, has now registered 30 or more assists in a match 48 times during her four-year Athletes Unlimited career.
- Opposite Jordan Thompson registered her 11th consecutive double-digit kill performance after ending Saturday’s match with 17 kills … Thompson and outside hitter Dani Drews are the only players in the league to record 10 or more kills in every match this season.
- Thompson also surpassed 200 kills for the season, marking the 10th time a player has tallied 200 or more kills in the league’s five-year history … She will enter Sunday’s season-ending doubleheader with a league-best 213 kills in 11 outings.
- Thompson added 12 digs against Team Drews to author her third double-double this season.
- Thompson has lost two of her last three matches after opening the season with an eight-match win streak … She also dropped to 5-2 as a team captain.
- Outside hitter Madi Kingdon Rishel posted her eighth career match with 10 or more digs after recording 13 digs against Team Drews, including her fourth instance this season.
- Middle blocker Elise Goetzinger had her seven-match win streak snapped with Saturday’s loss.
Next Match: Sunday, November 2 vs. Team Cooper | 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT
MATCH MVPS
- #1 – Natália Zilio Pereira (Team Drews), +60 points
- #2 – Marlie Monserez (Team Drews), +40 points
- #3 – Serena Gray (Team Drews), +20 points
