WHEATON, ILL.- Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's volleyball team (3-4, 0-0) traveled over to Wheaton as they competed in day one of the Wheaton College Tournament. Tonight's contest consisted of a game against Bethel University (BU) (3-6, 0-0) out of Minnesota. What was a hard fought battle from beginning to end, the Cougars would fall to the Royals 3-0.
Inside the Box Score
- Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) continued to be a dominant force with 17 assists and 13 digs.
- Fifth year senior Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.) led the Cougars in kills with nine, five digs and two aces.
- Katie Haidl (St. Charles, Ill.) made her presence known tonight with an impressive performance. The junior recorded three aces and five digs.
Set One
The Royals started off hot with two kills to start the match. However, the Cougars quickly answered back with two points of their own. Bethel University did not let that stop them, and managed to go on a major run that led to a Cougar timeout with a score of 15-6. Following the timeout, the Cougars were able to get two easy points. Momentum couldn't stop the Royals as they went on another 7-0 run.
After fighting hard, the Cougars lost the set with a score of 25-13, with Bethel University taking the 1-0 lead.
Set Two
Heading into the second set of the match, the Royals continued their hot streak with a 5-0 lead. Kills by
Akasia Brown (Addison, Ill.), gave the Cougars a spark to start a run of their own. The Cougars were able to go on a 3-0 run with non-stop defensive plays and a Heywood kill to bring the score to 9-5. The BU Royals never backed down and went on another offensive run, leading to another Cougar timeout with a score of 17-10.
The Cougars would fall in the second set with a score of 25-13, Giving Bethel University a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set Three
Coming to set three of the match, the Cougars came out blazing hot with an easy 6-0 run to start. The Royals responded with two quick points. What continued to be a back-and-forth run, the score was within three.
The Cougars began to pull away with two kills by
Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.), leading to a 13-11 score. With two aces by
Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.), lead to a Royals timeout. The electric force from the Cougars did not let the Royals timeout phase them, as they continued to go on a 5-0 run.The Royals continued to fight and managed to pull away with a 23-20 lead.
As it was an all out grudge battle in this third set, the Royals were able to win the match with a score of 27-25.
The Cougars will continue their tournament play tomorrow as they play Maryville College at 11 a.m. and Manchester University at 3 p.m. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
