GALESBURG, Ill. -- In arguably their best performances of the season, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars did not drop a single set today en route to sweeping Iowa Wesleyan and Saint Mary of the Woods, respectively.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Winning the day in six straight sets, CUC outscored its two opponents for a total of 150-99.Â
- The Cougars started off hot, hitting .321 in match one against Iowa Wesleyan, which was a new season-high for the squad. Rolling into match two, CUC topped their season-high once again and swung a .342 attack percentage over the Pomeroys.Â
- In match two, the Cougars had just eight attack errors, including none during the second set, which sets a new season low for CUC.Â
- Kelly Gootee and Alex Clasen had another dynamic day, as the duo combined for 53 assists and nine service aces.
MATCH ONE vs. Iowa Wesleyan, W 3-0
CUC's attack was electric to open up the first set as they produced 13 kills off 24 attempts and just two errors.Â
Jumping out to an 11-8 lead, the Cougars kept pressure on IW as
Jaylynn Johnson sent back-to-back kills to the floor and pushed the CUC advantage to 13-8. From there,
Julia Beers produced two straight service aces as well, as the Cougars were beginning to develop a comfortable lead. With a 20-13 score, CUC struggled on a few serve receives that allowed the Tigers to pull within four. But, several IW errors and two aces from
Alyssa Henline allowed Concordia to take the first set 25-16.Â
CUC had yet another 13-kill performance in set two, led by Johnson,
Shannon Stamp and
Tori Steele. The Tigers kept the game close early on, forcing the Cougars to make smart decisions at an 8-8 stalemate. Working to pull away from their opponents, CUC forced an attack error on the Tigers, followed by a kill from
Julia Spitelli and an ace from Clasen to earn the largest lead of the set at 11-8. Up 14-11, Stamp, Johnson and Steele broke down IW's defense allowing Gootee to run from the endline and push the score to 21-13. Despite the Tigers tacking on a few more points, Henline and Stamp combined back-to-back kills to end set two 25-16, in favor of the Cougars.
Set three would prove to be the closest of the match, as the Cougars hit just .200 as a team. Once again though, CUC jumped out to an 8-3 lead only for the Tigers to work their way back into an 8-6 contest. While on a service run, Iowa Wesleyan was working the Cougar defense until Steele shut down the Tigers with a heavy kill from the right side. Steele would prove to come up clutch again in the latter part of the set, as her and Stamp combined for a match-winning block to take set three, 25-19.Â
MATCH TWO vs. Saint Mary of the Woods, W 3-0
While taking set one 25-22, the Cougar were slower to get rolling as they out hit the Pomeroys just .200 to .150 in the first.
However, in set two CUC turned on the jets and hit for an outstanding .647 attack percentage, including 11 kills on 17 attempts and zero errors. The Cougars took an early 10-3 commanding lead over Saint Mary's thanks to rock solid serving from Gootee. Never pulling within more than five points for the remainder of the set, Spitelli and Stamp made sure to apply pressure as their back-to-back kills extended CUC's lead to 18-11 down the stretch. Up 20-12, Gootee came to the service line and dished two aces and an assist to
Jaylynn Johnson that nearly closed out the game. Johnson would finish off the set with one of her 14 kills from the match as the senior hit .480 overall against the Pomeroys.
In their final set of the day, CUC had once again established a steady five-point lead over the Pomeroys.
Courtney Luciano then took the Cougars on a five-point service run that pushed CUC to a 18-10 advantage. From there, Henline would end the match on two straight services aces and complete CUC's two-match sweep of day two at the Knox College Tournament.
The Cougars will return to action this week for an exciting midweek match up against River Forest Rival Dominican University inside the walls of Geiseman Gymnasium.Â
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