Milwaukee, Wis. - The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars traveled to Milwaukee to take on the Alverno Inferno in an on-the-road Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) action. The Cougars extinguished the Inferno in three sets, winning 3-0.
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Inside the Box Score:
- Brooke Christensen (Blaine, Minn.) led the Cougars to victory with 12 kills on the day.
- Following closely behind was teammates Neva Foster (Parker, Colo.) with 11 kills and Eve Dicken (St. Louis, Mo.) with 10.
- Bethany Roethel (Westby, Wis.) played a great defensive game, getting 16 digs.
- Malainna Adler (Fenton, Mo.) was able to get 33 assists.
Here's What Happened
Set One
The Cougars came out feeding the Inferno their own fire with a 4-0 run. Starting off the heat was Shaira Marin (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) with a service ace, which was quickly followed by three consecutive kills, two of which came from Christensen and the third from Harmonie Cooper (Chicago, Ill.). Followed by a bad set, the Cougars went on another run, led by Christensen and Adler. At this point in the set, the score was 8-1 in favor of the Cougars. The Inferno were able to score one point off of a kill, making the score 8-2. Dicken and Christensen put kills up on the board, and Katie Haidl (St. Charles, Ill.) added a service ace, which made the score 12-2. This forced the Inferno into their first timeout of the half. Out of timeout, Christensen served back-to-back aces for the Cougars, as well as Foster adding a kill to her name, followed by another ace for Christensen.Â
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To finish off the set, Foster, Dicken and Christensen earned kills for the team. The Cougars took set one with a final score of 25-8.
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Set Two
Carrying over the fire into the second set, the Cougars went on another 4-0 run. Christensen, Dicken, and Cooper collectively brought in several kills for the Cougars, bringing the score to 10-1. After a timeout and kill from the Inferno, the Cougars took the momentum back in their favor. Led by Cooper, Foster, and a service ace from Christensen, in favor of the Cougars, the score was 14-2. There was a momentum shift halfway through set two, in favor of the Inferno. The next 15 rallies were shared points between the Cougars and the Inferno. After a compilation of kills from the Inferno, still favoring the Cougars, the score was 20-14. Jordan Brown, Dicken, and Foster held down the fort for the Cougars and brought the team into a set two win.Â
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The Cougars final score of set two was 25-16, and the Cougars were up 2-0.
Set Three
Set three had a very different look compared to the other two. Throughout the set, the Cougars and the Inferno would go back and forth exchanging points. A change of pace came for the Inferno as they held the longest point run, where they earned six uninterrupted points early in the set, where the score was 9-5, in favor of the Inferno. This was the first lead of the day for the Inferno. Broken up by a kill from Cooper, the Inferno answered with two kills of their own and increased their lead to five. The score was 11-6. The Cougars found their inner fire and finally were able to shift the momentum back in their favor. Going on a 4-point run, led by a service ace from Adler, kill from Foster, and two kills from Dicken, the Cougars chipped away at the point deficit and found themselves tied at 12 points a piece. From there, the Cougars went on. 3-point run taking the lead for the first time of the set, but only by one point. The score was 15-14, favoring the Cougars. The Inferno and the Cougars would switch off lead changes until the very end of the set. Finalized with a kill from Christensen, the score of the third set was 28-26, where the Cougars came out on top. The Cougars won 3-0.Â
What's Next
The Cougars will be on the road yet again to take on Marian University in their final road match of the regular season. First serve is set for 7:00pm. Coverage for all things CUC women's volleyball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.Â
