Recap: Team De La Cruz-Mejía Cruises to 75-52 Victory in Sweep of Team Member-Meneh

The victory moves Team De La Cruz-Mejía to 2-0 in Week Four, while Team Member-Meneh falls to 0-2.

Opposite Willow Johnson totaled a match-high 14 kills on a .429 hitting percentage with five digs and a solo block to garner MVP 1 honors and a career-high 357 leaderboard points. Setter Madi Bugg authored the first Match MVP performance of her AU Pro Volleyball career with 35 assists and 12 digs, securing MVP 2 plaudits and 347 points.

Middle blocker Tori Dixon completed the Match MVP sweep for Team De La Cruz-Mejía with MVP 3 recognition with an all-around performance. She tallied seven kills on a .583 hitting clip to go with a pair of digs, two solo blocks and four block assists en route to 298 leaderboard points.

Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía tallied nine kills in the victory, while libero Nomaris Vélez Agosto contributed 10 digs.

Outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh led her squad in the setback with 12 kills and added eight digs, while opposite Khat Bell paced the team with 10 digs. Setter Alisha Childress chipped in 29 assists and eight digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Team De La Cruz-Mejía jumped out to a 25-14 advantage after the first set and moved the lead to 50-35 after the second frame. The squad completed the sweep with a 25-17 verdict in the final set.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

The win allowed outside hitter Dani Drews to rise four spots on the leaderboard and into fourth place with 2,279 points. De La Cruz-Mejía, meanwhile, holds the top spot with 3,266 leaderboard points pending the result of Sunday’s nightcap between Team Hentz and Team Abercrombie.

MATCH NOTES

• Member-Meneh and De La Cruz-Mejía faced each other as opposing captains for the second time in their Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball careers … De La Cruz-Mejía, who piloted a victory in the duo’s first meeting last week, moves to 2-0 in the all-time series.

• Team De La Cruz-Mejía fashioned the 31st all-time win points sweep in AU Pro Volleyball history, including the fifth instance this season … De La Cruz-Mejía has been the winning captain in three of the five sweeps this year.

• Team De La Cruz-Mejía’s 23-point margin of victory is the largest in a match this season … It is also tied for the fourth-largest margin in the league’s four-year history.

• Middle blocker Molly McCage has tallied multiple solo blocks in 8-of-11 matches this season.

• With her two solo blocks on Sunday afternoon, McCage tied the AU Pro Volleyball single-season record with 33 rejections … She matches the total established by Lauren Gibbemeyer (2021) and equaled by Ali Bastianelli (2022) and Kaz Brown (2023).

• Johnson authored her sixth double-digit kill performance in the last nine matches after ending Sunday’s matinee with 14 kills … Johnson also tallied 300 or more leaderboard points for the third time in her Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball career.

• Bugg has dished out 30 or more assists in back-to-back outings after closing play with her 35 assists on Sunday … She tallied a season-high 43 assists against Team Hentz on Friday night.

• Bugg also surpassed 300 leaderboard points in a match for the first time this season.

• Member-Meneha has registered 10 or more kills in 6-of-11 matches this season, including three of the last five outings.

• Member-Meneh has now dropped five of her last six outings after opening the season with a 5-0 record.

• Bell posted her second double-digit dig effort of the season after collecting 10 digs on Sunday afternoon … She also secured 11 digs in last Monday’s Week Three finale against Team Abercrombie.

• Childress became the third player in AU Pro Volleyball history to reach 1,000 career assists … She joins Natalia Valentin-Anderson and Nootsara Tomkom as the only players to reach the milestone in the league’s four seasons.

• De La Cruz-Mejía was held to nine kills in the victory on Sunday, snapping a streak of 33 consecutive matches with 10 or more kills … It was her lowest kill total in a match since March 19, 2022, when she was limited to six kills against Team Cruz.

MATCH MVPS

• #1 – Willow Johnson (Team De La Cruz-Mejía, +60)
• #2 – Madi Bugg (Team De La Cruz-Mejía, +40)
• #3 – Tori Dixon (Team De La Cruz-Mejía, +20)