River Forest, Ill. – The Concordia University Chicago women's volleyball team played their first game of the season in Geiseman Gymnasium as they hosted the Rockford University Regents. Following a tight first set, the Cougars came out with the win, beating Rockford 3-1.
 
The Regents came back late in the first to grab a 25-22 win, but this wasn't enough to derail the Cougars from their goal of winning this match. They came out strong in the second set as CUC took control early. Although the Regents did not let Concordia pull too far ahead, the Cougars still came out of the second with a 25-20 win.
 
From there, CUC kept control of the match. Rockford made a push at the end of the third to try and secure a win, but the Cougars shut them out with a score of 25-23. The final set ended in a dominant 25-17 performance from the Cougars.
 
Highlights of the Match:

• Both outside hitters for CUC had big nights as Alyssa Henline (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Joy Greco (Brookfield, Ill.) each had double-digit kills. Henline finished the night with 16 while Greco had 11. Henline and Greco each had a double-double after tonight's contest as they added 16 and 10 digs, respectively.
• The back row defense for CUC shined as they tallied 80 digs overall. Libero Julia Beers (Mishawaka, Ind.) led the way with 23 while Henline finished in second. Also earning double-digit digs were Greco, Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) and Sophie Kovachevich (Huntley, Ill.).
• Mikala Perino's (DePere, Wis.) front row defense was stellar for the Cougars. The senior middle blocker registered five total blocks.
• Vernengo continues to set the pace for CUC's offense as the team's sole setter. She finished tonight's match with 43 assists.

 
The Cougars will have two days off before they are back in action at the Rose-Hulman Invitational, where they play the Engineers on Friday, Sept. 24. First serve starts at 4:30 p.m.