Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Ripon, Wis. -- The Concordia University Chicago women's volleyball team kicked off the first day of the Red Hawks Invitational hosted by Ripon College. After Friday's matches, the Cougars ended 1-1 as they lost to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Red Hawks and won against the Luther College Norse.
 
The first match of the day against the Red Hawks went to five sets, with both teams narrowly beating the other throughout. Although the Cougars grabbed the lead during the first five points of the final set, they were unable to keep the momentum. CUC ultimately lost to River Falls 3-2.
 
Highlights of the Match:

• Sophomore Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) and junior Alyssa Henline (Fort Wayne, Ind.) both finished the night with a double-double. Vernengo registered 32 assists along with 14 digs while Henline had 13 kills and 17 digs.
• Vernengo also had an impressive performance from the service line as she recorded six aces.
• Jaida Carr (Livermore, Calif.) performed best for the Cougars on offense. She grabbed 13 kills, putting up a team-high .286 hitting percentage (13 kills, 5 errors, 28 attempts).
• In the back row, Julia Beers (Mishawaka, Ind.) shined, as always, for CUC. The libero made some outstanding plays as she tallied 24 digs. She also contributed three aces from the service line.
• Defensive specialist Sophie Kovachevich (Huntley, Ill.) had her best night since putting on the Maroon and Gold. The sophomore recorded 17 digs as she came in for Carr in the back row.

 
As soon as their game against River Falls ended, the Cougars were back on the court to take on Luther College. Following the defeat in the first match, CUC was ready for a win, which they did in four sets against the Norse.

The Cougars will be back in action again tomorrow, Sept. 18, as they take on Rockford University in a non-conference match at 10 a.m. Concordia will also play tournament hosts Ripon College at 2 p.m. All the matches can be live streamed at portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon.