RIVER FOREST, ILL. The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's volleyball team (7-10, 0-0) hosted the visiting Edgewood College Eagles from Madison, Wisconsin (12-4, 0-0) in a Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) matchup. In what was a tough matchup from beginning to end the Cougars would fall to the Edgewood Eagles 3-1.
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Inside the Box Score:
- Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.)Â continued to dominate in tonight's match. The fifth year senior recorded 17 kills, one block and one assist.
- Akasia Brown (Addison, Ill.)Â made her presence known with 15 kills and three blocks. Breaking her career-high kills in just a week.
- Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.)Â was able to dish out 36 assists, nine digs, two aces and one block.
First Set
The Cougars struck first with getting the first two points of the match. The Eagles had an answer, but a kill from Brown had the Cougars going on a 3-0 run. Both teams were going back and forth with the score staying within two. A long rally that was won by the Cougars led to a Edgewood timeout.
The Cougars were not phased by the timeout, as they came out firing with three easy points. Due to a service error and some miscommunications, the Eagles fought back and took back the lead with a score of 17-16. Coming out of a Cougar timeout, the Eagles did not let up off the gas and managed to 4-0 run. A Heywood and Brown kill gave the Cougars an offensive spark. However, the Eagles took the first set with a score of 25-23 giving Edgewood the 1-0 lead in the match.
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Second Set
The Cougars came out with a vengeance to start the second set. With a service ace by Vernango and some blocks, the Cougars were able to build a 3-0 lead. The Eagles were not too worried as they went on an offensive run of their own leading with a score of 9-6. With kills from Brown and
McKayla LeVoy (Kankakee, Ill.)Â kept the Cougars in the game.
Defensive plays coming from both sides of the court had Geiseman on their toes. But, Edgewood's momentum did not stop as they took the 2-0 lead in the match with the score of 25-17.
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Third Set
The Cougars continued to be the aggressor starting the match with a 3-0 lead early on. Edgewood was not backing down and had a response for every Cougar point. In what was back and forth between the two teams, with kills coming from both Brown andÂ
Kate Foley (Milwaukee, Wis.) had the Eagles too stunned to speak. Heywood would also get in on the action by getting two kills of her own, which led to a Edgewood timeout. The Cougars are now leading the set with a score of 17-12.
Coming out of the timeout, the Eagles were able to crawl back into the match, now only down by two. Brown was electric and carried with a big time solo block and another kill. With a
Eve Dicken (St. Louis, Mo.)Â kill, the Cougars pulled off the much needed set three win with a score of 25-23. The match is now a 2-1 Edgewood lead.
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Fourth Set
The Cougars continue to strike hard with the first point of the set. The Edgewood Eagles managed to go on an 6-0 run that led to a CUC timeout. Following the Cougar timeout, they came out hot by getting some easy points. The Cougars kept their foot on the gas and got more defensive stops, slowly chipping away at the lead. With another Dicken kill, the Cougars were able to cut the deficit to one with a score of 17-16.
Edgewood continued to dominate on both the offensive and defensive sides and went on another 3-0 run to cause another Cougar timeout. Out of the timeout, Edgewood continued to lead in the set, furthermore securing the fourth set win with a score of 25-20.
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The Cougars will continue play this Friday as they travel to Naperville to play North Central College with a 7 p.m. start time. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
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