MARYVILLE, TENN. – After 301 days, the Concordia University Chicago women's volleyball team hit the floor for their opening weekend tournament in Maryville, Tennessee. After falling in yesterday's season opener against Brevard College, the Cougars put up two major battles against Randolph-Macon College and Maryville University. Despite the intense fight in both contests, the Cougars fell in both, 3-0 and 3-1, respectively.
GAME ONE: 3-0 L
Inside the Box
-
Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) led the forces with seven kills on the day while adding in one additional block.
-Freshmen
Jessalyne Perkins (Chicago, Ill.) and
Micaela Barraza (Cape Coral, Fla.)a showed up and showed out with two aces a piece.
-
Malainna Adler (Fenton, Mo.) picked up a game-high 23 assists.
-
Janelle White (Morton Grove, Ill.) led the squad with nine digs.
How It Happened
Set One
The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the game, but a kill from
Akasia Brown (Addison, Ill.) broke the dry spell. A few errors from the Cougars heightened the deficit, but a kill from Perkins would get them back on track. After falling behind by as much as six points, a 6-1 run, highlighted by a Perkins ace and a
Neva Foster (Parker, Colo.) kill, brought the Cougars back within one. The first kill of the day for
McKayla LeVoy (Kankakee, Ill.) would even the score at 14 with momentum in favor of the Cougars.
As the Yellow Jackets continued to pressure, the Cougars would fall behind and fall in set one 25-20.
Set Two
Set two would start in a similar fashion as the Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 3-0 lead. With points coming scarcely in the set, the Cougars would quickly fall behind 15-5 before kills from Brown and Hunt would open the doors.
After falling behind by 13 points, a 5-0 run would put them back in the motions with an ace from Perkins, kills from Brown and Hunt, and a block from
Harmonie Cooper (Chicago, Ill.). Despite the dominating finish to the set, the Cougars would be unable to overcome the hearty deficit and fall 25-18.
Set Three
The Cougars broke the gates open first in set three with a 2-0 run capped by a kill from Hunt. With the Yellow Jackets not backing down, the back-and-forth battle would take over and the Cougars would jump ahead off kills from Perkins and Brown.
With the Cougars taking control of the game, they'd jump ahead by as much as five points before the Yellow Jackets would cut that down to a two point lead. Another string of points for the Cougars would put them up 17-11 with kills from Hunt, Perkins, and Christensen.
As the two squad entered the final five points of the game, the intensity kicked up and the back-and-forth rallies would give the Cougars the 24-22 advantage. A string of points for the Yellow Jackets would tie things up at 24, before the Cougars would fall behind 25-24. Two points for the Cougars would put them ahead by one, but the final three points would go to the Yellow Jackets, leaving the Cougars behind 28-26.
GAME TWO: 3-2 L
Inside the Box
-Christensen led the way with 12 kills while Brown tallied seven.
-
Shaira Marin (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) joined the party with a team-high four aces alongside Adler while Perkins contributed two.
-Hunt and Perkins each contributed six blocks apiece.
-Adler picked up 25 assists in the game, bringing her weekend total to 85.
-White added in 14 digs, bringing her weekend total to 45.
How It Happened
Set One
The Cougars started out hot with a 5-0 run despite Maryville starting with the initial serve. Kills from Christensen and Perkins got things going before eventually jumping out to a 6-1 lead.
After a bit of a run from the Scots, the Cougars stayed on top 8-7 before extending out to a 12-9 lead. After exchanging eight points, the Cougars took control and went on a 7-0 run to sit comfortably ahead of the Scots.
With only two points to go a big-time kill from Christensen sent the dagger in and gave the Cougars their first set win of the day.
Set Two
The Scots came out blazing in second set jumping out to a 3-0 lead over the Cougars. A kill from Christensen broke up the scoring, but an additional 8-0 run for the Scots would put them ahead by nine. With the Cougars battling from a deficit, a 4-0 run would bring them within seven.
With the Scots still controlling the tempo of the game, a kill from Brown and an ace from Perkins would serve as a spark, but ultimately still end in a deficit 25-15.
Set Three
With things level at one set apiece, the third set continued the trend and the Scots and Cougars exchanged points before the Scots eventually jumped ahead 7-3. A 4-0 run for the Cougars evened the score at seven apiece, but the Scots would eventually jump back ahead and hold the lead.
After the Cougars were able to tighten the score, and bring the score within one. A 4-0 run for the Scots would jump them ahead 23-19, but a kill from Christensen would break up the run. Despite picking up a few points near the end of the set, the Scots would steal set three and go ahead 2-1 overall.
Set Four
In a do-or-die set four, the Cougars jumped out to the 2-0 lead after back-to-back aces from Adler. Despite taking the early lead, the Scots stole it and jumped ahead 5-3. With momentum on the Scots' side, the Cougars broke free off a block from Christensen and Perkins.
Despite falling behind, an 8-0 run for the Cougars capitalized by three consecutive aces from Marin and a kill from Christensen, the Cougars jumped out to the 20-16 lead for the first time since the start of the set. A brief run from the Scots would even the score at 22, but a kill from Christensen would give the Cougars the lead back.
Despite the late rally, the Cougars would fall to the Scots in the fourth set 26-24 and lose the game overall 3-1.
What Coach Palmer Had To Say
"I saw a team with a lot of grit compete all weekend," second year Head Coach
Andrew Palmer noted. "Our returners set an example of going out and competing for every point. We had contributions from returners and newcomers which is exciting to see. I see a group that is hungry, learning and growing together. This was a challenge of a trip and we are a better program for it."
The Cougars will be back in action
on Wednesday, September 4thfor their home opener against Kalamazoo. Opening serve is set for
6:00 pm inside Geiseman Gymnasium. Coverage for this game and all CUC Women's Volleyball games can be found at
cucougars.com/coverage.
