NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. — The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's volleyball has stayed busy these past couple of days, as they headed off to Indiana for the Manchester University Invitational. Coming off of some Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play yesterday, the Cougars faced off two opponents in Alma College and a rematch against Manchester University. Unfortunately, CUC would fall in both battles with scores of 3-1 and 3-0, respectively.
Game One: vs. Alma College 3-1 L
Inside the Box Score:
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After crossing a milestone on Thursday night, Grace Heywood (Northbrook, Ill.) continued her offensive dominance by picking up 20 kills
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Isabelle Vernengo (Plainfield, Ind.) was just one assist shy of her season-high with 44
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On the defensive end, Shaira Marin (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) picked up 20 digs in game one
Both teams were energized and enthused going into set one of this matchup. Alma would begin an early lead of 4-3, but it did not take long for CUC to find their stride.A six-point rally of Eve Dicken (St. Louis, Mo.) and Heywood kills would bring the Cougars ahead 9-4. As the Cougars kept a healthy lead, Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) would join the onslaught and tack on a couple of kills of her own to make it 16-9 CUC.
Marin would pick up a service ace and start to put the Scots off of their game. This assisted the Cougars in continuing their hefty lead over the Scots. Livesay would put the final point on the board and get the Cougars a set one win of 25-16.
Heading into set two, the two sides began to even out with points almost immediately. At a score of 7-7, Vernengo would snag herself a service ace and Akasia Brown (Addison, Ill.) would start finding space of her own on the court. The Cougars then went on a huge run, thanks to kills from Brown and Heywood, along with a Livesay service ace, to make it 13-7 CUC.
Alma responded almost immediately and was able to tie the game back up at 14 apiece. This momentum carried into another rally for the Scots and they would make a lead of 19-16 on the Cougars. A Heywood service ace and some miscues from Alma would tie the game up, again, at 19-19. Vernengo would get a solo block of her own, but would be too late to stop Alma, as they won set two 27-25.
The Cougars were not going to be shut down easily, as they took a 5-3 lead off of a Brown kill. Alma would come back quickly and take the game over at 9-6. Dicken's kill would assist CUC to tie the game back up at 11-11. Alma and CUC would trade off on rallys, with Heywood continuing to dominate at the net, 16-16.The Cougars would finally get the space to jump ahead at 23-20 thanks to back to back kills from Livesay. Unfortunately, Scots took over set three with a final score of 26-24.
Coming out hot in set four, the Cougars quickly went up 5-0. Katie Haidl (St. Charles, Ill.) picked up a service ace and Heywood added on to her impressive totals on the night. This would continue with two more Heywood kills and a score of 10-2. Dicken would help to keep the lead, as well as Emma Schnegelberger (Dallas, Texas) who secured a service ace, with the score at 16-13.
Brown's back-to-back kills continued to impress and keep this set in a tight hold for CUC 18-15. However, Alma would then tie and then take the lead 24-23. This would end this first game of the night for the Cougars, as the Scots took set four 26-24 and the win over CUC 3-1.
Game Two: vs. Manchester University 3-0 L
Inside the Box Score:
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Brown would find herself leading the way with nine kills
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Charissa Lind (St. Charles, Mo.) would make splash at the service line and secure season-high three service aces
This rematch game from last weekend started off with a Manchester run at 5-1. Heywood and Dicken banded together to ensure that CUC would not be left in the dust, tying the game up at 8-8. McKayla LeVoy (Kankakee, Ill.) and Kate Foley (Milwaukee, Wis.) would both also start chipping away at the lead and tie again at 11-11.
Manchester then went on a long run and took the lead at a score of 18-12. The block party then started for the Cougar squad, with Vernengo and Levoy making it known up front at the net, still trailing 20-16. As Manchester continued to trek ahead, CUC would try one last time to find some momentum, but just fell short. The Cougars would lose set one with a score of 25-19.
Starting set two, the Cougars were ready for a comeback as they led 3-1. These two competitors were neck and neck with a tie game of 8-8. Thanks to Levoy and Heywood supplying the kills, CUC was just moments away from taking the lead. However, Manchester had a response and began leading 15-11.
CUC would find themselves chipping away at the score, Heywood and Foley ensured that with their offense, and made the score 21-18. The Cougars would end up tying this set up with back to back service aces from Lind 23-23. While this was a huge momentum start for the Cougars, Manchester would sneak in for the set two win at 25-23.
Making their way into set three, the Cougars had their backs against the wall to make it out of this 2-0 deficit. The two foes started off with a 3-3 tie, but Manchester began running away with the score. At 8-4, Heywood would sneak a ball on the court to aid CUC, but Manchester was not letting up any time soon 14-6.
Mixing up the offense, Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) would come in and knock down two kills, along with Brown, to make it 19-10 Manchester. This large lead did not deter the Cougars and Elise Klinger (Tawas City, Mich.) would help to begin a rally for CUC 24-17. Big moments from Brown and Hunt would put Manchester on their heels, but they would remain the victors of set three with a final score of 25-20. CUC would fall to Manchester with a final score of 3-0.
The Manchester University Invitational is far from over, as the Cougars have two more games scheduled tomorrow morning. They will be facing Bluffton University at 11 a.m. (EST) and Franklin College at 1 p.m. (EST). Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
