JACKSONVILLE, ILL. — The wait is over for Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's volleyball fans as they traveled down state for the Illinois College Invitational. Day one consisted of games against Anderson University out of Indiana and the home team, Illinois College. They would split on the day with a win over the Ravens from Anderson and a loss to the Lady Blues from Illinois.
Game One: 3-0 W vs. Anderson University (IN)
Inside The Box Score
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Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.) led the way on the offense with a total of 13 kills in her first game of the season
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Continuing her reputation, Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) tallied 21 assists to aid the maroon and gold
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For her first game with the Cougars, Shaira Marin (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) had 18 digs and led the team with three service aces
With the first game off to the races, the Cougars were ready to take this season into full swing. The first couple rounds of points were volleyed back and forth between the two competitors. This included one of Marin Figueroa's first aces and a Heywood kill to have the score tied 6-6. Back-to-back kills from Heywood would help bring CUC out in front with a score of 9-7.
However, the Ravens would turn around and tack on a couple of rallies to take the lead 16-14. The Cougars would not wait for long, as they came back with a screaming five-point rally, including a Brooke Christensen (Blaine, Minn.) kill, to lead 19-16. This would be the final seal for CUC as they quickly took over the win, thanks to an Akasia Brown (Addison, Ill.) kill, at 25-18 in set one.
The Ravens were not ready to turn over easily, as they tied up the score twice to start off set two at 5-5. This would spark three, four-point rallies for the Cougars. One with kills from Christensen and Brown, along with a service ace from Lili Hunt. Then, a kill by Vernengo and service ace by Christensen would bring the Cougar lead to 13-6. Finally, Brown picked up a kill and a service ace, then a Heywood kill, would bring the score all the way to 17-8.
This impressive string of points allowed CUC to run away with the set two victory. Back-to-back kills from Hunt and a service ace from Heywood would fully ensure the victory. Even with a rally of points from the Ravens, the Cougars took set two with a score of 25-21.
A hefty lead in place helped place momentum behind CUC as they crossed into the third set. A block and kill from Brown really showed out the power of the Cougars front row as they took a lead of 8-3. Vernengo would join the fun, along with three kills from Heywood, to continue the success at 12-7. However, Anderson was not ready to lay down and accept defeat and continued to chip away at the score. Christensen would pick up an additional kill before the Ravens started to build a streak, closing the gap to a 18-16 CUC lead.
Benefiting from some Anderson miscues, the ball was placed back in CUC's hands. This gave Marin Figueroa the opportunity to add yet another service ace to the night. The Cougars would take this final set with a score of 25-22 and pick up their first win of the season 3-0.
Game Two: 3-1 L vs. Illinois College (IC)
Inside The Box Score
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Heywood led the offense with 14 kills and Brown followed right behind her with nine kills and three blocks
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With more assists to her nightly total, Vernengo tallied 37 assists. Tonight would also amount to her crossing the 2,000 mark for career assists as a Cougar.
Set one began with a battle between these two teams. However, the Cougars went on a huge string of points to take a large lead. Kate Foley (Milwaukee, Wis.) grabbed a service ace for herself and a Brown-Vernengo team up on the block made the score 10-4. Illinois College then fought their way back into the conversation and were just one point short of a tie at 13-12 CUC.
The Cougars took the lead again after an Eve Dicken (St. Louis, Mo.) kill and back-to-back Marin Figueroa service aces 17-13. Illinois College would not be deterred easily and took the score back to 18-17. The next couple sets of points would be heated as the two opponents battled back and forth. Foley, Heywood, and Dicken combined their forces together and finished off set one 27-25.
The Lady Blues switched their gears and started off super hot in set two with an immediate score up on the Cougars. Heywood and McKayla LeVoy (Kankakee, Ill.) would be the only Cougars to get an inch on the court, as Illinois College took the score to 10-3. A couple of Lady Blues miscommunications and a kill from Brown would lessen the difference to 13-8, IC. As IC ran away with set two, a handful of CUC players would earn service aces, but Illinois College took set two 25-15.
The momentum did not stop for the Lady Blues and they started off set three with a 9-3 lead. Kills from Brown, Heywood, and Foley would help to bring the Cougars back to a competitive score of 13-9. The two teams would volley these points back and forth between one another until a string of CUC points brought the score to 19-18 IC. Then, Illinois College had a four-point rally to really turn the tide in their favor. Kills from Dicken and Brown would try to slow down the Lady Blues, but they took set three 25-21.
Going into set three, IC took it upon themselves to start pushing a huge lead forward of 12-3. As the two top offensive powers of the night, Heywood and Brown tried to chip away and find room to a score of 20-8. However, the Cougars would be defeated in set four with a score of 25-14, losing to Illinois College 3-1.
The Cougars will continue their tournament play tomorrow as they play Blackburn College at 10 a.m. and Earlham College at 12 p.m. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
