GREENCASTLE, Ind. — Opening up the season at the DePauw Invitational, the Concordia University Chicago women's volleyball team played two matches on Friday night, opening up with Carthage College and closing against Albion College. CUC struggled to get anything going in the opener, falling to the Firebirds 3-0. The Cougars showed fight in the second match of the night, but ultimately fell 3-1 to the Britons. 

Match one vs. Carthage

The Firebirds opened the match on a quick run to grab an 8-4 lead. CUC then fired back, getting kills from Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) and Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.) to take a 9-8 lead. The Cougars continued to fight close in the set, but a late run for Carthage allowed the Firebirds to take set one 25-18. 

Katie Stonich (Sadieville, Ky.) gave CUC a 5-4 lead early in set two with an ace. Carthage answered with a 12-2 run from there to take set two 25-14

CUC came out swinging early in set three, getting a kill from Eve Dicken (St. Louis, Mo.) to tie the set at eight. Carthage then made an attack error off a tough serve from Julia Beers (Mishawaka, Ind.) giving CUC a 9-8 lead. The Firebirds had the answer again, going on a big run to take set three 25-14.

Stonich led the offense with 11 kills. Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) recorded 19 assists, and Beers finished with five digs. 

Match two vs. Albion 

Albion grabbed an early lead in set one, but the Cougars worked their way back into the set, getting a block by McKayla LeVoy (Kankakee, Ill.) and Dicken to tie the set at seven. Albion followed with a large run, taking set one 25-11. 

Set two was the best of the day for Concordia. Three straight points with Heywood serving gave CUC a 6-4 lead early. The two sides traded points throughout the rest of the set, with CUC scoring two late points on back-to-back Stonich kills to force extra points. CUC was able to get kills by Dicken and Heywood to take the set 27-25.

Concordia was unable to keep the momentum going after the set two win, falling in set three 25-14 and set four 25-19. Stonich led the offense with 12 kills, while Heywood recorded nine kills. Vernengo recorded 23 assists while Stonich and Beers both recorded double-digit digs.

The Cougars (0-2) will return to action tomorrow morning at 10:00am (EST) for day two of the DePauw Invite. Links to coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.