Recap: Thompson, Valentin-Anderson Lead Team Hentz in Rally Win Team De La Cruz-Mejía

KEY MOMENT

With the match score tied at 67-all in the third set, Team Hentz rattled off five consecutive points to take a 72-67 lead. Team De La Cruz-Mejía closed the gap to 72-69 with back-to-back points before a Thompson kill secured the match victory for Team Hentz.

LEADERBOARD UPDATE

Thompson, who garnered MVP 1 accolades for the second match in a row, climbed into the top spot on the leaderboard after fashioning a 400-point outburst in Team Hentz’s victory, while Valentin-Anderson slipped into second place with 573 total points through two matches. Outside hitter Dani Drews rose five spots into fifth place following a 20-kill effort in the loss for Team De La Cruz-Mejía.

TEAM HENTZ NOTES

• Setter Natalia Valentin-Anderson and libero Morgan Hentz became the second and third players in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history to surpass 10,000 career leaderboard points after leading Team Hentz to Sunday’s victory … Valentin-Anderson stands second on the all-time chart with 10,107 points, while Hentz follows with 10,028 points.
• Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía owns the league’s all-time record with 15,883 points after finishing with 129 points on Sunday night.
• Hentz became the second player in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history to log 700 or more career digs after closing Sunday’s opener with a match-high 14 digs … She enters Monday’s Week One finale needing just 16 digs to become the league’s all-time leader.
• Libero Nomaris Vélez Agosto owns the league career standard with 725 digs over her four-year career from 2021-24.
• Hentz earned her first career win in three all-time meetings against De La Cruz-Mejía as a captain … She has also won her last three matches as a team captain (dating back to last season) after losing eight of her previous nine contests in the captain’s chair.
• Hentz received the 19th Match MVP award of her four-year AU career after receiving MVP 2 recognition on Sunday … The three-time reigning league Defensive Player of the Year ranks second on the league’s all-time Match MVP chart behind De La Cruz-Mejía.
• Hentz moved into a tie for fifth place on the league’s all-time match wins chart with her 28th career victory on Sunday night … She has also won five of her last six matches dating back to last season.
• Valentin-Anderson increased her AU Pro Volleyball Championship record by authoring her 33rd career double-double with 39 assists and 12 digs … She has now reached 30 or more assists in a match 41 times in her career, while surpassing 10 digs in 33 career fixtures.
• Valentin-Anderson also earned the 29th match victory of her AU Pro Volleyball Championship career … Valentin-Anderson’s next match win will allow her to become the fourth player in league history with 30 or more victories, joining De La Cruz-Mejía (39), setter Taylor Bruns Tegenrot (31), and Vélez Agosto (30).
• Outside hitter Jordan Thompson, who registered her second consecutive Match MVP award, became the 16th player in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history to tally 400 or more leaderboard points in a single match … Thompson, who finished with 400 points, posted a .429 hitting percentage after posting 20 kills on 42 attempts with just two attack errors in addition to two service aces.
• Middle blocker Tori Dixon, who contributed four kills in addition to two service aces and two solo blocks, has won seven of her last eight matches dating back to last season, including the last four in a row.

Next Match: Monday, October 6 vs. Team Kingdon Rishel | 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT

TEAM DE LA CRUZ-MEJÍA NOTES

• Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía posted seven digs to become the first player in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history to register at least 500 kills and 500 digs in their career.
• De La Cruz-Mejía also notched the 52nd double-digit kill effort of her AU career, extending her league record with a 13-kill performance in Sunday’s opener.
• De La Cruz-Mejía dropped to 31-16 as a captain during her five-year AU career … She has lost back-to-back matches as a team leader for the first time since October 6-8, 2023, when she suffered consecutive setbacks against Team Edmond and Team Nootsara.
• Outside hitter Dani Drews finished with a match-high 20 kills, including 10 kills during the opening set, to mark just the second time she has posted 20 or more kills in a match during her AU career … It also marked her 12th career match with 15 or more kills.
• Drews added 10 digs to author the 12th double-double of her AU career.
• Drews also compiled 200 or more leaderboard points in a match for the 15th time in her three-year AU career after finishing with a team-high 225 points.
• Drews also earned the 14th Match MVP citation of her AU career, good for fifth on the league’s all-time list.
• Setter Marlie Monserez finished with 36 assists in Sunday’s loss, marking her fifth career contest with 30 or more assists … She also added 14 digs to register her fifth career double-double.
• Opposite Khat Bell tallied 10 digs in the loss for Team De La Cruz-Mejía, marking the sixth time she has posted a double-digit dig effort in her two-year AU career.

Next Match: Monday, October 6 vs. Team Abercrombie | 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT

MATCH MVPS

• #1 – Jordan Thompson (Team Hentz), +60 points
• #2 – Morgan Hentz (Team Hentz), +40 points
• #3 – Dani Drews (Team De La Cruz-Mejía), +20 points