Oct. 22, 2014 - The Concordia-Chicago volleyball team returned to Geiseman Gymnasium this evening for the first of two final Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference matches for the season. Tonight's opposition was Aurora University, and the visiting Spartans received some high-percentage hitting from their top attackers to roll to a three-set sweep (25-17, 25-15, 25-14) over the Cougars.
The Cougars grabbed an 8-6 lead in set one as
Kaylyn Anderson (East Chicago, IN/Whiting) riddled the Spartans' defense.
Raven Burns (Shorewood, IL/Minooka) and
Mary Arredia (Franklin Park, IL/West Leyden) teamed up for the Cougars' first block point of the night. But Aurora reeled off five consecutive points, two on kills by Brooke Pylant, to take a lead they did not relinquish.
In set two, both teams attacked very well as the Spartans hit .424 on 17 kills and the Cougars .370 on 11 kills. But Aurora capitalized on its extra edge in hitting attempts and pulled away late in the set to go up 2-0 in the match.
Concordia-Chicago led 8-7 in set three, but Aurora ran off a 10-2 run to wrap up the match. Anderson recorded four kills in the final set, but Peyton McKenzie was the visitors' go-to player as she knocked down six kills on eight tries including the final point of the match.
McKenzie had an outstanding match with 15 kills against just one error in 21 tries (.667). Pylant added seven kills in 19 errorless chances for a .368 attack as Aurora hit .283 collectively. Anderson led CUC with nine kills against three errors
in 28 attempts (.214) while Austin Thompson (Morris, IL/Morris Community) recorded six kills in 16 chances without an error for a .375. However, the Cougars finished with a .110 hitting percentage, The Cougars will travel to Bloomington, IL on Friday for a tri-match against Lincoln Christian College and host Ililinois Wesleyan University. They will then host Alverno College on Saturday for Senior Night in which they will recognize the efforts of Meghan O'Hara (Sheffield Village, OH/Lutheran West).
