RIVER FOREST, Ill.— Looking to begin their final homestand of the 2019 out strong, the Concordia University Chicago Cougars took on the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks inside Geiseman Gymnasium tonight. The Cougars looked to gain momentum to begin the week. Concordia (10-16: 4-6 NACC) started off homecoming week with a bang, downing IIT (6-18: 2-8 NACC) in four sets.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Kelly Gootee recorded her fifth double-double of the season (41 assists, 13 digs)
- Shannon Stamp had a season high 16 kills, just two shy of her career high.
- Gootee's 41 assists set her career high for the second straight match.
- For the fourth time this season CUC recorded double digit blocks.
- As a team CUC matched their season high with 14 aces.
To begin the first set, Concordia went of a 5-1 run, featuring an ace from
Alyssa Henline and a kill from
Julia Spitelli. The first four Scarlet Hawk points came from serving errors by the Cougars. Continuing their momentum, the Cougars began to pull away with another kill from Spitelli, making the score 12-5.
With an ace from Gootee and a shared block from
Shelby Spitz and Stamp, the Cougars made the score 23-11. On a long rally and a kill from Spitz, the Cougars completed a convincing win of 25-12 for their first set.
The Cougars, once again, started their second set on a run, this time scoring seven unanswered points. Concordia was able to capitalize off of multiple errors from Illinois Tech, pulling away by double-digits with a score of 15-5. The Cougars continued their streak with a big kill from Stamp after a long rally with strong efforts from both sides of the court.
Service errors continued to plague the Cougars, with nine thus far in the match, however still held a considerable lead. With her tenth kill of the match and an ace, Stamp ended the second set 25-18, leading the match 2-0.
In the third set of the match, the Cougars didn't start as strongly as the two prior sets, but still managed to maintain the lead with back-to-back aces from
Julia Beers, making the score 7-3. The Cougars lost their momentum, when the Scarlet Hawks put together a stretch of overall strong play, tying the game 11-11. Henline broke the tie with her third kill of the match.
The Scarlet Hawks took the lead back at 17-16, but the Cougars stole it right back with a kill from Johnson, making it 18-17. The Cougars found themselves trailing 24-21. Illinois Tech won the set, 25-22, but found themselves still trailing Concordia 2-1.
The fourth set started out similarly to the third set, with the two teams fighting for the lead. A block from Stamp sent the score to 5-4 with the Cougars trailing. A kill from Johnson tied the score 8-8. On another kill from Johnson, the Cougars had their largest lead of the set at 16-13. After that, the team went on a 6-2 run to take a commanding lead of 21-15. Johnson secured the victory with a kill, making the final 25-21, 3-1.
The Cougars dominated the stat book in nearly every category including kills, aces, and blocks. Stamp led Concordia with 16 kills on the night, and Johnson followed closely behind with 11. Henline tallied five aces on the night and Stamp assisted in five blocks.
The next match for the Cougars is set for Friday, October 25
th against Marian University (5-16, 2-6 NACC). Concordia will be hosting their senior night, celebrating Johnson, Spitz, and
Courtney Luciano.
