Women's Lacrosse 03.19.25

Women's Lacrosse Starts MAC Play At Kent State

Women's Lacrosse 03.19.25

Women's Lacrosse Starts MAC Play At Kent State

Senior Sophie Davis and the Titans will look for a win in their conference opener.

DETROIT (3/20/2025) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team played its first eight games getting ready for the conference season, and now it's finally here as the Titans head to Kent State on Sunday.

Game time is set for 1:00 p.m., at Dix Stadium and will be broadcast live on the KSU Sports Network.

The Titans are coming off two straight losses, falling at home to Lindenwood and on the road to Marquette. Detroit Mercy had eight different goal scorers, with senior Maddy Camm and junior Libby Cuckler leading the way with two goals and an assist.

After scoring just six goals in the first two games, UDM has reached double digits in the last six, averaging 12.1 markers in that span. The offense is currently second in the MAC and 18th in the country with a .473 shooting percentage and second on the free position, hitting 11-of-22 on the year.

Individually, senior Meredith Leavell leads the MAC and is eighth in the nation with 89 saves and second in the league and eighth in DI with 11.1 saves per game. Camm is second in the conference and 30th in the country with 1.88 caused turnovers per game, while senior Katie Bilello is fifth in MAC with 2.63 ground balls per contest.

Kent State is 5-5 on the season as the Golden Flashes started MAC action last week, defeating Central Michigan on the road, 10-9, in overtime.

Detroit Mercy will return home after the game as the red, white and blue host Akron next Sunday.

OUR MAC HISTORY

This is the fifth season with the Titans as a member of the Mid-American Conference, as UDM is 9-25 all-time in MAC games.
Detroit Mercy missed the playoffs the first three years but turned it around last season, going 3-3 and qualifying for the postseason, where the red, white, and blue upset top-seeded Central Michigan on the road in the semifinals before falling to Robert Morris in the title game.

VS. KENT STATE

Detroit Mercy ended a five-game slide to Kent State last season with a 15-11 home victory, but the Golden Flashes lead the all-time series, 5-2
KSU is also 2-0 all-time on the road in the match-up.
Six of the seven games have come as MAC rivals - only the first meeting in 2019 was not a league affair - while four of the games have been decided by four goals or less, including back-to-back 16-15 games in 2022 and 2023.

Series History
Mar. 16, 2019 - Home - W, 16-12
Apr. 22, 2021 - Home - L, 12-17
May 1, 2021 - Away - L, 11-20
Mar. 26, 2022 - Away - L, 11-16
Apr. 30, 2022 - Home - L, 15-16
Apr. 26, 2023 - Home - L, 15-16
Apr. 21, 2024 - Home - W, 15-11

BRINGING IT DOWN

Junior Alyssa Jarvis has raised her game offensively in the last six games, where she has 13 goals and 20 draw controls.
She is tied for the team lead with 14 goals and has seen 20 of her 24 shots on net (83.3%).
She posted her fourth career hat trick, finding the back of the net a career-best four times against Lindenwood and pulled down three draws with a marker at Marquette.
Prior to that, she had three goals to go with six draws, two caused turnovers and three ground balls in the win at Presbyterian, four draws and two goals at Furman, and five draw controls with two markers in the win at Kennesaw State.
She started the streak with a goal, two ground balls, and a caused turnover in the victory over Canisius.
Jarvis is currently fourth in school history with 2.67 draw controls per game and has 107 draws in her career, 11th in school history.
She is coming off a breakthrough season as a sophomore as she was named All-MAC Second Team after topping the team with 67 draw controls to go with 10 caused turnovers and 26 ground balls. Her 3.72 draw controls per game were fourth in the MAC and seventh in the school record book, while her 67 total draws were sixth in Titan history.
Jarvis was also fourth on the team with 24 points and 20 goals. During the regular season, she secured a career-high 11 draw controls - tied for fourth in school history - at Central Michigan.

MEET JAEDA JENSEN

After not scoring in her first two games and taking just three shots, freshman Jaeda Jensen has got into a rhythm on offense in the last six, posting 10 goals on her 18 shots.
She had her first career hat trick, finishing with three goals and an assist at Presbyterian, and is coming off a two-goal, one-helper effort against Lindenwood.
Jensen had her first two collegiate markers on her two shots and a caused turnover against Canisius, and netted two more strikes and a ground ball at Kennesaw State.

YES I CAMM CAMM

Senior Maddy Camm - already a two-time MAC Player of the Week with an honor for offense and defense - leads the team in points (23), assists (13), caused turnovers (15) and draw controls (30), while standing third in ground balls (20) and fourth in goals (10).
She just had three points on two goals and an assist, two draws and two ground balls at Marquette and that was after three caused turnovers, four ground balls, and two draws against Lindenwood.
During the spring break road trip, she had six draw controls, two caused turnovers, and four points on three assists and a goal in the win at Presbyterian. Camm recorded one of the best defensive games in school history with a career-high five caused turnovers, a career-tying five ground balls, a career-best four assists and five draw controls at Furman for her MAC defensive award.
The five caused turnovers are tied for the second most in school history and the most by a Titan since 2013.
She started the spring break trip by tallying two goals with five ground balls, three caused turnovers, and three draw controls in a win at Kennesaw State and was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 25 after registering a career-best five points on three goals and two assists, along with a team-high six draw controls, three ground balls, and two caused turnovers in the 12-7 win.
Camm is second in the MAC and 30th in the nation with 1.8 caused turnovers, seventh in the league with 3.75 draws, seventh in the MAC at 2.5 ground balls, and third in the conference with 1.63 assists per game.
She has caused a turnover in 32 of her last 36 games, including 23 with at least two and nine games reaching at least three. She has also grabbed a ground ball in 33 of her last 36, and scored a point in 29 of her last 36, with a goal in 23 contests.
Last season, Camm was All-MAC after leading the team with 35 caused turnovers and 44 ground balls, was second with 55 draw controls, third with 39 points and 25 goals, and topped the team with 14 assists,
all career highs.
She now has 73 caused turnovers - fifth in school history - 114 draw controls - ninth in the record book - 101 ground balls with 47 goals and 38 assists in her career.

GIVE ME LIBERTY

Junior Libby Cuckler is having her best collegiate season as she is tied for the team lead with a career-best 14 goals and is second with 20 points.
A few games ago, she had her best collegiate game, posting a career-high six points on a career-best four goals with two assists at Furman and almost equaled that with three goals and two assists versus Lindenwood before scoring two goals with an assist at Marquette.
So far on the season, 25 of her 29 shots have been on net as she leads the team with an .862 shots on goal percentage.
Cuckler played in all 18 games, with 15 starts, and was fifth on the team with 23 points, second handing out 12 assists, and sixth, registering 11 goals last season.

STAY AWAY FROM OF MY SIDE

Senior Katie Bilello has been a mainstay on the defensive side of the ball since arriving in the Motor City and is having an exceptional final collegiate campaign.
She has already tied her career best with 11 CT's and has a career-high 21 GB's on the year, as she is currently sixth in the MAC with 1.38 takeaways and fifth in the league, and 35th in DI, with 2.63 ground balls per game.
She led the defense with five ground balls and had two caused turnovers at Marquette. She had two caused turnovers and two ground balls against Lindenwood and registered a caused turnover and two GB's at Furman.
Bilello had a monster game in the victory over Canisius as she was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 25 after registering a career-high four caused turnovers and seven ground balls.
She has now played in 54 career games with 45 starts and has tallied 37 caused turnovers and 73 ground balls.

NOT IN MY NET

Senior Meredith Leavell continues to attack the Detroit Mercy record book.
She has 89 saves on the season, including a career-high 22 stops in the opener against San Diego State - en route to being named the MAC Goalie of the Week. She also had 12 at Arizona State and 13 with five ground balls in the win over Canisius to earn her second Goalie of the Week honor.
Leavell is second in the MAC and eighth in DI with 11.1 saves per game, while her 89 saves are eighth in the nation, and her 2.88 ground balls are second in the league and 22nd in the country.
She has recorded double-digit saves in 26 of her 51 career games and has allowed less than 10 goals eight times in her career when playing at least 45 minutes.
Leavell's 477 saves are third in school history, while her 9.35 saves per game, good for fourth. She is also second with a .444 save percentage, and fourth with a 13.90 goals-against average.
Her 116 ground balls are just three shy of 10th place in the school record book.
Last season, Leavell recorded a school-record 187 saves, leading the MAC and finishing 21st in the nation with a .468 save percentage, second in school history. Leavell was also second in the league, and fourth in the nation, in total saves, and third in the conference and eighth in the country with 10.39 saves per game.
In the postseason, she had a then career-high 18 saves in the semifinals win at CMU, coming up with five stops in the first period and five in the fourth quarter, and then had 12 saves in the title game to earn All-Tournament honors.

NOT BODNARING ME

Two-time All-MAC second-teamer Leah Bodnar has netted 13 goals in the last six games, after not posting a marker in the first two games.
She just had a goal and an assist, two takeaways, and three ground balls at Marquette, and that was after three goals and an assist, along with two draws and two ground balls versus Lindenwood. Before that, she had a goal, assist, a career-tying four ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers in the win at Presbyterian. Bodnar tallied three goals at Furman and four goals and an assist at Kennesaw State.
In the season opener against SDSU, she had a career-high three assists and a pair of draw controls.
In her career, she has played in 54 games and has 71 goals, 22 assists, 93 points, 56 ground balls, 51 draw controls, and 29 caused turnovers, collecting 14 hat tricks.
Last season, Bodnar ended the year second on the team with 42 points and 33 goals, third with nine assists, second with 15 caused turnovers, and fifth with 24 ground balls, all career-highs. She also recorded a hat trick eight times.
She tied her career high with seven points on a career-tying five goals, a career-high four takeaways, and picked up four ground balls against Kennesaw State.

OFF THE HOOK

Junior Angelina Hook has picked up at least one ground ball in every game this season, and has a caused turnover in five of the eight contests. She started the year with two takeaways and two ground balls against San Diego State and added a caused turnover and GB at Arizona State. Hook had another caused turnover with two GBs in the win versus Canisius, two ground balls at Furman, and a takeaway and GB in the win at Presbyterian and at Marquette.
After seeing action in just four games as a freshman, she played in 16 games with 11 starts and recorded 15 ground balls and five caused turnovers last year.

THE DAVIS FILE

Senior Sophie Davis helped lead a strong Titan defense in the win over Canisius as the Titan captain and current SAAC President had two caused turnovers and a ground ball.
She has played in 46 games with 36 starts as a standout defender and has 15 caused turnovers and 15 ground balls.
Davis tallied five caused turnovers and eight ground balls last season, helping the team advance to the MAC Championship for the first time in school history.

SINGING A NEW TUNE

Freshman Tunie Mullen got off to a fast start in her collegiate career, scoring two goals against San Diego State. She had another in the win over Canisius and on the road in the triumphs at Kennesaw State and at Presbyterian.
She scored her first two markers on just two shots and also had a draw control versus the Aztecs.
The last Titan freshman to have multiple goals in her first collegiate game was Morgan Girardi, who had two goals at #18 Ohio State in 2016.

NO STUMPING THE SCHWAB

Freshman Sophia Schwab has been making a name for herself on the offensive side of the ball, tallying a goal and two assists in each of the last two games against Lindenwood and at Marquette.
She finished with her first two collegiate goals and an assist in the win over Canisius and had an assist and a ground ball in the win at Kennesaw State and two more goals at Furman.

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES

Sophomore Erin Balbontin and freshman Gabrianna Vasquez each had a chance to celebrate as they scored their first goals in the win at Kennesaw State.
Vasquez's goal was on just her second shot of the season, as she has since added a goal at Furman and two at Presbyterian.
Balbontin also registered her first career caused turnover in the KSU contest, as she had just her first career assist in the game before against Canisius.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Erin Balbontin: MF; 5' 4"; Sophomore

#55 Katie Bilello: D; 5' 4"; Senior

#33 Leah Bodnar: MF; 5' 8"; Senior

#27 Maddy Camm: MF; 5' 7"; Senior

#8 Libby Cuckler: A; 5' 7"; Junior

#26 Sophie Davis: D; 5' 10"; Senior

#11 Angelina Hook: D; 5' 7"; Junior

#2 Alyssa Jarvis: MF; 5' 3"; Junior

#41 Meredith Leavell: GK; 5' 3"; Senior

#13 Jaeda Jensen: A; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#3 Erin Balbontin
: 5' 4"; Sophomore
: MF

#55 Katie Bilello
: 5' 4"; Senior
: D

#33 Leah Bodnar
: 5' 8"; Senior
: MF

#27 Maddy Camm
: 5' 7"; Senior
: MF

#8 Libby Cuckler
: 5' 7"; Junior
: A

#26 Sophie Davis
: 5' 10"; Senior
: D

#11 Angelina Hook
: 5' 7"; Junior
: D

#2 Alyssa Jarvis
: 5' 3"; Junior
: MF

#41 Meredith Leavell
: 5' 3"; Senior
: GK

#13 Jaeda Jensen
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: A