RIVER FOREST, ILL. — Bringing the energy to Geiseman Gymnasium this morning, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's volleyball team took on the Alverno College Inferno. In a dominating show of offense, the Cougars took the win over this Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) opponent with a score of 3-1.
Inside the Box Score:
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Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.) led the offensive drive with 11 kills
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Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) totaled a career-high five service aces on the Inferno. Also joining her with a career-high was Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.), who picked up 15 digs
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Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) was the main assistant to the offense with 38 assists
Set One
The Inferno would begin the onslaught in set one and take a lead of 4-3. The Cougars made quick work to take back the lead, with kills from Vernengo and Heywood and a Livesay service ace 5-4. The two opponents would trade off points before CUC made a six-point rally. This was shown by kills from Heywood, Livesay, and McKayla LeVoy (Kankakee, Ill.) 13-6.
Hunt, Levoy and back-to-back from Livesay were the kills to drive the lead to 17-7. Alverno would try to start chipping away at the lead, but CUC took off running on a huge rally. Livesay and Vernengo would block up front, along with Akasia Brown (Addison, Ill.), who also grabbed a kill. The final blow was made by Vernengo to win set one 25-10.
Set Two
The Cougars would continue their momentum into set two, taking a lengthy lead of 9-2. Quick work was made with kills from Levoy, Livesay, and Heywood; Including three service aces from Livesay. Alverno was not completely shut down and was able to cut the significant lead to 11-9. A Kirsten Bockhorst (Union, Mo.) block and Livesay kill helped CUC to continue ahead as they led 17-11.
Going on a run of their own, Alverno cut the score to 17-15. The Inferno would get within one of the Cougars at 19-18. But CUC took a huge jump forward thanks to kills from Heywood and Bockhorst 24-18. Heywood made the final kill at 25-19.
Set Three
Hunt and Kate Foley started off hot in set three with a Cougar lead of 4-1. Alverno would find themselves leading at 7-5, after taking advantage of some CUC miscues. With assistance from Brooke Christensen (Blaine, Minn.), the Cougars were able to take the lead back 8-7. Both of these opponents battled back and forth as teams traded leads. CUC would end up ahead 12-10 after an Eve Dicken (St. Louis, Mo.) kill.
A Cougar six-point rally made the score 19-12, to bring CUC closer to a full game sweep. Bockhorst and Hunt would deliver kills, as well as two Bethany Roethel (Westby, Wis.) service aces. Dicken and the rest of the Cougar offense would look to end this game, but the Inferno were not going down easy.
Alverno would end up with a six-point sweep to take set three with a score of 25-22, forcing a set four.
Set Four
After just missing a full game win, the Cougars were not going to let this game get away from them. First with a 5-1 lead, Hunt, Livesay, and Heywood would start off the party. Then with a score of 9-2, Vernengo and Hunt would work together to bring the Cougars ahead.
Alverno would try to respond, but CUC made an impressive 10-point rally. Vernengo had two service aces, along with multiple kills across the entire Cougar offense, pulling ahead 19-4. Dicken and Roethel joined along with a kill and service ace, respectively, 22-9. Hunt made the final blow, as CUC took set four 25-10.
The Cougars would take this NACC matchup against the Inferno with a final score of 3-1.
Coming up this week, the Cougars have their final home game of the year, as they host Marian on Thursday at 7 p.m. This also marks Breast Cancer Awareness night hosted by CUC's Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
