CHICAGO, ILL.--- The Concordia Chicago Cougars (10-15, 4-8) traveled downtown Chicago to take on the Scarlet Hawks of Illinois Institute of Technology (6-18, 5-7) for their last Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) matchup of the season. As the Halloween moonlight danced on the court, a spooktacular NACC volleyball match-up unfolded. Players brought their haunted games, delivering chilling attacks and thrilling plays. It was a game of ghoulish serves, spirited spikes, and trick-or-treat tactics. Ultimately the Scarlet Hawks were able to grab the win 3-1.
 
Inside the Box:
-Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.) totaled 17 kills while Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) added in nine of her own.
-Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) set up her teammates for a total of 34 assists.
-Heywood also dominated the Dig category with 16. She contributed with three aces as well.
 
Set One:

To start the match it was a lot of back-and-forth action. Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) smacked down the first kill for the Cougars. The Scarlet Hawks went on a run in the middle of the set and were leading the Cougars 19-13. Efforts from Heywood tried to keep the Cougars alive with seven kills in the set.

Hey Heywood could you do that again? pic.twitter.com/mpV27IdCvu

— CUC Women's Volleyball (@cuc_volleyball) November 1, 2023

 
Set Two:

The Cougars were determined to fight back after falling in set one. It was once again a battle back and forth as the score was 10-10. The Cougars started to pull away. They went on a run which caused IIT to take a timeout at 16-12. The Scarlet Hawks fought back to bring the score to 21-19 which then caused the Cougars to take a timeout of their own. A kill from Livesay sends the score to 24-23 in an intense back-and-forth set. After a long rally for set point, the Cougars were able to snatch set two.

HUNT is coming in HOT pic.twitter.com/f5NDijsygz

— CUC Women's Volleyball (@cuc_volleyball) November 1, 2023

 
Set Three:

The Scarlet Hawks started on a 4-0 run to begin set three. IIT took control of the set and led the whole set. However as the Scarlet Hawks had a 20-13 lead, the Cougars started making their comeback trek as they went on a four-point run, two of those points coming from back-to-back service aces from Heywood. However, IIT ran away with the win of set three 25-19.

What's better than one ace? BACK TO BACK ACES. pic.twitter.com/rlzfZ1EG9G

— CUC Women's Volleyball (@cuc_volleyball) November 1, 2023

 
Set Four:

The Cougars started with a quick jump up 2-0. However, the Scarlet Hawks were eager to gain the lead back. They were able to capitalize the lead and go on a four-point run. They never looked back after that and ended up flying over the Cougars 25-16.
 
The Cougars will be back in action for their final matchup of the season on Friday, November 3rd. They are set to take on Elmhurst University at 7 p.m.  Coverage for all things CUC Women's volleyball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage