TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Concordia University Chicago women's volleyball team competed in the second day of the Rose Hulman Invitational on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars won a five-set thriller 3-2 in the opening match of the day against Manchester. CUC was unable to keep the momentum in the second match of the day, falling 3-0 to Rose Hulman.

Match one vs. Manchester

It was a five-set battle between the Cougars and Manchester. CUC found themselves trailing in set one before they could go on a run with Charissa Lind serving to tie the set at 14. The two sides continued to split points, with CUC taking a 25-24 lead on a kill from Eve Dicken. CUC then was able to secure set one 27-25 on kills by Kate Foley.

CUC continued with the momentum in set two. With Brooke Christensen serving, CUC jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Christensen recorded two aces during the run. The Cougars continued to build on their lead, extending the lead to 18-8 at one point on a block by Jaida Carr and McKayla LeVoy. Manchester was able to cut into the lead slightly, but Katie Stonich put away the 25-20 set two win with a nice touch shot kill.

Manchester was able to keep the match going, going on an early run in set three. CUC was never able to recover in the set falling 25-17. Set four was much of the same, with two big Manchester runs being too much to CUC overcome.

Concordia was able to regain momentum early in set five. With Julia Beers serving, the Cougars jumped out to a 6-0 lead. CUC continued to build on the advantage, making it 9-1 on a Stonich kill. It was Stonich again with the kill to secure the final point of the set, giving CUC the 15-10 win.
Stonich and Dicken led the offense with 13 and 12 kills respectively. Carr led the team with seven blocks. Lind recorded a team-high 24 assists, while Beers recorded 32 digs.
 
Match two vs. Rose Hulman

The host Rose Hulman grabbed the momentum early and never let up in the day's second match. Rose Hulman downed CUC by scores of 25-17 25-16 25-12.
Stonich led CUC with nine kills. Isabelle Vernengo recorded a team-high 15 assists, and Beers had 17 digs.

The Cougars now will prepare to continue Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play on Friday night at Lakeland University. Opening serve is set for 7:00 pm.