JACKSONVILLE, ILL. — Day two has come for the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's volleyball team at the Illinois College Invitational in Jacksonville, Illinois. To end this full weekend of action, the Cougars battled both Blackburn College and Earlham College early this Saturday morning. These games would be a split overall, a 3-1 win over Blackburn and a 3-2 loss against Earlham.
Game One: 3-1 W vs. Blackburn College
Inside The Box Score:
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Both Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.) and Kate Foley (Milwaukee, Wis.) would tie as the kills leaders with 16 apiece
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After crossing the 2000 career assist mark just the night before, Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) tacked on another 39 in this game
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Bethany Roethel (Westby, Wis.) took possession of the back row with 18 digs
The Beavers would start out on top quickly as they took a 5-2 lead to start set one. The Cougars would continue to try and find some room on the court, as Blackburn took their score to 11-6. The momentum started to change once the Heywood-Foley team-up started to work together, with help from Eve Dicken (St. Louis, Mo.), to make it 13-14 in favor of the Beavers. A huge five-point rally would bring together exactly what CUC would need to take the lead at 18-17. However, Blackburn would take the first set with a score of 25-23.
This disadvantage would not stop the Cougars, as they began on the offense in set two. Kills from Foley and Akasia Brown (Addison, Ill.), as well as some Beaver mistakes, would allow CUC to lead at 8-4. The Beavers began chipping away at this lead and got it all the way back to 9 apiece for the opponents. Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) would jump in the offensive action for a kill, as both Foley and Brown continued to work off of one another for the Cougars to lead 18-16. As the two became heated in points, it would be down to Blackburn's mistakes that would allow CUC to take set two 25-23.
It would become even playing ground for these two as they crossed into the third set. Early on, it seemed as though Blackburn would take the momentum back, as they led 7-4. However, a block from Dicken and a kill from Brown would tie the game up 10-10. CUC would then go on a rally with showcases from Heywood and Dicken at 15-12. After being assisted by her counterparts, Foley went on a fiery run and had three kills that kept the Cougars ahead 20-19. CUC would not leave this set up to debate and finished it off with a Emma Schnegelberger (Dallas, Texas) service ace at 25-22.
It was clear Blackburn was not going to go down easily and they started out with an early lead in set four. Foley showed her consistency and had three kills in a row that helped to tie the game up 5-5. Both Brown and Heywood would join in to try and take the lead, but the Beavers were staying strong in holding their position at 13-9. Kills from Dicken, Vernengo, and Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) would allow CUC to claw their way on top at 18-17. This would spark a hot streak for Heywood and Foley and they traded off kills until the Cougars won set four 26-24. The Cougars defeated the Beavers with a final score of 3-1.
Game Two: 3-2 L vs. Earlham College
Inside The Box Score:
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Vernengo could not be stopped this weekend, as she tallied 43 assists in her fourth game of the weekend. She has officially etched herself in the record books as the fourth highest assist maker in school history
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Working off of her earlier success, Heywood led again in this set with 15 kills and 15 digs
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Dicken would help in two different categories, as she led with four service aces and three blocks
The Quakers took an early lead as they started off the first set with a score of 8-4. Both Brown and Heywood would try to get rallies going with kills of their own, but Earlham started rolling with some early momentum. With the score at 13-6 Earlham, Heywood and Brooke Christensen (Blaine, Minn.) fired in some points for CUC to try and get on top of the Earlham lead. This would spark a six-point streak, including two Heywood service aces, to tie the set up 15-15.
With the playing field equaled out, the Quakers would respond almost the exact same way at 22-18. This would lead to a set one Quakers win with a score of 25-20.
The Cougars made a swift response with kills from multiple Cougars to start off 5-2. This trend would continue with a service ace from Shaira Marin (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) and back-to-back kills from Dicken 10-3. Dicken would continue her dominance with a service ace and kill, and kills from Foley would make it 19-6 CUC. This would be a quick and aggressive set from the Cougars, finished off by Dicken, Hunt, and Maddie Krage (Preston, Minn.) at 25-14.
Used to being at an even playing ground, both teams would start off the third set trading points back and forth. CUC would be the first to break away and go on a long string of points, highlighted by kills from Heywood and a service ace from Katie Haidl (St. Charles, Ill.) 12-8. This lead did not change for the Cougars and Hunt and Foley helped to bring the lead to 20-11. This would, again, be a dominant performance from CUC with a win of 25-12.
The Quakers made an immediate response in set four with a 7-1 quick lead. Heywood and Hunt began to help rev up the Cougar offense, but the Quakers were not budging with a lead of 18-9. This continued with kills from Foley and Vernengo trying to build momentum for CUC at 20-14. The comeback began at this moment, with a huge showing from Brown, Heywood and Hunt in the front row 22-19. However, they would fall just short and Earlham would take set four 25-21.
The first complete five sets of the season for the Cougars would come as a challenge in their final game of the weekend. The Quakers benefited off of some Cougars mistakes and led 5-3 to start the set. This would continue on to an Earlham lead of 9-5. Kills from Heywood and Foley would start to bring together some Cougar points, but would be too late. Earlham College wins set five 15-10 and takes the game with a final score of 3-2.
The Cougars will be hosting their home opener this Tuesday, as they host Lake Forest College at 7 p.m. Come out to Geiseman Gymnasium for jersey night and cheer on the Cougars for the first time this season in Geiseman Gymnasium. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
