River Forest, Ill. --- The Concordia University Chicago women's volleyball team kicked off Homecoming week with a bang on Tuesday night. The Cougars picked up a 3-1 non-conference win in front of a loud Cougar crowd in Geiseman Gymnasium. The night was highlighted late in set three when senior Julia Beers picked up her 1000th career dig.
CUC got things going early in set one. Beers picked up an ace that began a 6-0 run for CUC to grab a 7-2 lead.
Katie Stonich provided a kill during the run for CUC as well. Lake Forest pulled back within 14-10 midway through the set but kills Stonich and
Mikala Perino sandwiched a Perino and
Isabelle Vernengo block which extended the CUC breathing room back to seven and forced a Forester timeout.
Joy Greco provided two kills late, as CUC scored five of the final six points to take set one 25-15.
Set two was the most closely contested of the night. The set featured three lead changes and ten ties. It wasn't until a quick 3-0 run gave Lake Forest a 16-13 lead which forced a CUC timeout. The Cougars were unable to close the gap, falling in set two 25-19
The Cougars got two early kills from Alyssa Henline to take a 5-2 lead in set three. Lake Forest worked back to tie the set at six, but a Beers ace and kills by Greco and Stonich powered CUC to a 6-1 run to open up a lead. Lake Forest tried to close the gap late in the set, but a short 3-0 CUC run with kills again by Greco and Stonich kept the Foresters chasing. Greco closed out the 25-21 set three win for CUC with a kill.
Set for was closely contested in the early goings. The Cougars took hold of the match for good with the set tied at nine. CUC would go on a 16-4 run over the later part of set four, picking up six aces behind the service line. The Cougars hit .385 in the 25-14 set four win, committing just one attack error.
The Cougars were led offensively by Henline who hit .295 with 16 kills. Stonich and Greco also had 13 and 12 kills respectively. Vernengo picked up her seventh double-double of the season, dishing out a team-high 39 assists and recording 14 digs. She also added five aces behind the service line. Beers led CUC with 19 digs on the night.Â
Up Next
The Cougars will be back in action on Friday evening inside Geiseman Gymnasium when MSOE comes to River Forest. Friday night will also be senior night for Concordia. Opening serve is set for 7:00 pm. Live coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage. You can also keep up with all things CUC on Twitter @CUChicagoSports.
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