ELMHURST, ILL. — To end the 2023 season, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's volleyball team traveled to Elmhurst University to battle the Bluejays. Playing in this final non-conference matchup of the year, the Cougars were unable to defeat the Bluejays 3-0.
Inside the Box Score:
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Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.) was at the front of the pack for offense with 10 kills
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Finishing off her time in the maroon and gold, Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) totaled 21 assists
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Bethany Roethel (Westby, Wis.) had quite the night for herself, leading in digs with 14 and service aces with three
Set One
A strong performance on both sides opened up play to start this match. Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) would be the first Cougar to get a kill on the board as they led 4-3. CUC would remain out in front with kills from Heywood and Eve Dicken (St. Louis, Mo.), followed up by a Roethel service ace 10-7.
After this, the Bluejays started to trek ahead and made it their lead at 14-11. The Cougars picked up a string of points, including Heywood and Vernengo kills, to tie it up 14-14. However, Elmhurst would keep their steady stream of points to 20-15.
Dicken would be able to pick up two more kills in the set, but the Cougars would drop set one 25-19.
Set Two
The Cougars came into set two wanting to make a statement, as Livesay and Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) picked up kills at a tie game of 5-5. Heywood joined in for a kill as well, but the Bluejays began to run away with the score 11-6. Back-to-back point, courtesy of an Akasia Brown (Addison, Ill.) kill and Roethel service aces, cut the lead to 12-9.
Hunt would try to slow down Elmhurst, but they continued their streak to 21-10. Heywood picked up another kill to try and start a rally, but the Bluejays took this set at 25-11.
Set Three
Storming into the third set, CUC took a tremendous lead to start off the scoring. Roethel would be the one leading the charge with a service ace and knocked Elmhurst off their game 6-2. Hunt and Heywood brought in their power to drive the lead to 10-8.
The Bluejays eventually were able to catch up and tie the game up 13-13. Hunt and Brooke Christensen (Blaine, Minn.) would lead the offensive end, trailing Elmhurst 19-16. Brown would pick up back-to-back kills, along with a Emma Schnegelberger (Dallas, Texas) service ace to bring the Cougars within one 20-19.
Unfortunately, the Cougars would be unable to take set three and fell 25-19. This would conclude their final game of the year against the Bluejays, losing 3-0.
This marks the conclusion of the 2023 season for the CUC women's volleyball team. The Cougars end this season with a final record of 10-17 overall and 4-9 in conference play. To stay up to date on all things CUC women's volleyball, follow them on Instagram and X at cuc_volleyball. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
