Wheaton, Ill. - The Concordia University Cougars continued to compete in the Marilyn Scribner Invitational splitting on the day against the Lawerence University Vikings and Wheaton College Thunder ultimately ending the invitational with a record of 2-1.
Â
Game One
Inside the Box Score:
Â
How It Happened
Set One
Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) took an early lead for the cougars bringing in the first kill of the day, the Cougars would continue their lead 2-0. The Vikings followed with a two-point run themselves, making the score 2-2. The Cougars would swap point-for-point with the Vikings. The likes of Foster, Jessalyne Perkins (Chicago, Ill.), and McKayla LeVoy (Kankakee, Ill.) brought in points for the Cougars through kills, which brought the score to another tie at 9-9. The Vikings would then answer with kills, taking the lead 12-9. Foster with one kill and Christensen with four kills would close their lead bringing the score 14-14.
The Vikings and Cougars would swap point-for-point, however the efforts of Foster through three kills and Christensen with one kill would not be enough to take the first set. The final score was 25-21, in favor of the Vikings.
Set Two
The Cougars would take the lead early, where Hunt and Alder would secure the first kills of the set, making the score 2-1. Vikings would follow by securing the next two points of the set bringing the score 3-2 in favor of the Vikings. Akasia Brown (Addison, Ill.) and Foster would take the lead back by bringing in kills for the Cougars, 4-3. Hunt and Foster would add to the lead by bringing in kills for the Cougars, making the score 10-7. Brown and Christensen also secured kills for the Cougars which brought their lead to two, with a score of 13-11. Foster and Hunt continued their front row presence by building a gap against the Vikings, the score was now 16-13. Hunt, Brown, and Christensen would score big for the Cougars bringing several kills and maintaining their 3-point lead, 21-18. A kill from Adler and an error from the Vikings clinched the Cougars a win for the second set bringing the score 25-19.
Set Three
Christensen would initiate the game with a kill, followed by a kill from Hunt bringing the Cougars into an early lead where the score was 3-2. The Vikings would respond with a three-point run, however Christensen ended this with a kill. Foster would score two kills for the cougars, but the Vikings still had the lead 7-6. The teams would trade points seeing Perkins secure another kill for the Cougars 11-10. The Vikings broke away from this point-for-point trade taking the lead 15-12. Christensen would respond with a kill closing the Vikings' gap 15-13. Unforced errors and a kill from Hunt would allow the Cougars to close the Vikings lead 20-19. The teams would trade points, allowing Perking to secure the final kill of the set for the Cougars. The Vikings were able to maintain their lead and ultimately took the third set 25-20.
Set Four
Christensen would initiate the first point of the set again for the Cougars. Hunt, Brown, and Christensen would add to this by bringing in kills for the Cougars 4-3. The Vikings attempted to take the lead, but two kills from Foster would bring the Cougars lead to three, with a score of 7-4. Christensen ensured the Cougars front row presence by adding another kill to the board, where the lead remained at three, but the score was 9-6. The Vikings responded to the front row presences with their own tally of points. A kill from Brown and two from Foster would side the lead to the Cougars, making the score 13-12. The Vikings fought back and were able to bring the score back to a tied game 14-14. Hunt responded with back-to-back kills to reclaim the lead, 17-14, Cougars. Foster and Christensen responded with kills of their own to increase the lead 20-16. Hunt and Christensen secured the last two kills for the Cougars 23-20, however, unforced errors from the Vikings allowed the Cougars to take the fourth set. The Cougars and Vikings head to set five with each team at two sets a piece.
Set Five
The Cougars would take an early lead; Hunt would secure the first kill of the game bringing the score to 3-0. The Vikings would go on a three-point run and tie the game 3-3. Christensen stopped this run with a kill of her own. Perkins would follow this with a service run and an ace, bringing the Cougars ahead with a score of 6-3. Christensen with two and Brown with one would follow this with kills bringing the score to 9-5. The Vikings would attempt to bring the lead back to their side, but a kill from Foster and an ace from Roethel brought the score to 13-7. The Cougars would close the set with a kill from Perkins, and 15-11. The Cougars took the game after five sets, 3-2.
Â
Game 2Â
Inside the Box Score:
- Hunt led the Cougars in the second set with 10 kills.
- Adler brought in 18 assists and 8 digs.
- Perkins led the team with a personal best of 6 blocks.
- Janelle White (Morton Grove, Ill.) led the team in digs with 10.
How It Happened
Set One
The Cougars took an early lead by establishing a strong block with Hunt and Perkins controlling the net 3-0. However, the Thunder responded with a run of their own bringing the score 3-3. Hunt would initiate a run for the Cougars pushing the lead 5-3. The Thunder changed the momentum of the tallying points forcing a timeout for the Cougars 8-6. The Cougars would end this momentum by establishing a strong front court through the efforts of Brown and Foster. The Thunder side out quickly against the Cougars leading to a run that would bring the Cougars to a timeout, where the score was 15-9, in favor of the Thunder. The Thunder would continue to tally points, however Foster and Hunt responded with big kills shifting the score 21-12. The Thunder would maintain their lead and take the first set 25-13.
Set Two
Perkins would initiate the run for the Cougars through a kill and service ace bringing the cougars to an early lead 3-0. The Thunder would attempt to respond but Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) would stop them in their tracks with a kill 4-2. However, the Thunder would shift the momentum to their favor and bring the lead 9-5. Foster would end their run with a kill 9-6. The Thunder and Cougars would exchange points allowing the Thunder to keep their lead 13-8. Foster, Hunt, and Perkins would establish a huge front court presence allowing the Cougars to tie the score 13-13 through each scoring a kill, and a Foster and Perkins Block. The Thunder would shift momentum taking the lead, but Hunt would respond with a kill. The Cougars, unable to side out, allowed the Thunder to continue their lead, where the score was now 18-14. However, Perkins and Hunt would close this lead through an ace from Perkins and kills from Perkins and Hunt. Hunt would continue her front court presence by adding another kill to her name, 22-18 in favor of the Vikings. The Cougars unable to comeback from the lead fell. The Thunder take set two, 25-18.
Â
Set Three
Following set two, the Cougars established an early lead highlighting a Livesay kill, making the score 3-0. The Thunder bounced back with kills of their own, taking the lead 5-3. Hunt would attempt to close this lead with a kill, however the Thunder were able to go on a run, keeping the lead and making the score 8-5. The Cougars would then chip away at this lead through an ace by Christensen. Cougars were still behind but slowly decreasing the Vikings lead, the score was 8-7. The Thunder would respond swiftly with a five-point run that would be ended by an ace from White, a joint block from Adler and Perkins, and kills from Adler and Foster, where the score was 13-11. This would force a timeout from the Thunder, however out of the timeout the momentum shifted to their favor bringing the score to 20-12. The Cougars attempted to close the gap with two kills from Hunt, a kill from Adler, and a block from Hunt and Perkins decreasing the Viking lead and bringing the score to 20-16, still in favor of the Vikings. The Thunder stopped these attempts in their tracks bringing the score to 23-16. Perkins, Christensen, and Hunt hoped to establish a strong front court through a kill from Hunt and a Christensen and Perkins block, but the Thunder killed these efforts, closing the set 25-18. The Vikings took all three set, 3-0.
The Cougars look to be back on the road, traveling to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin where they will take on Wisconsin Lutheran College. First serve is set for 6:00 pm. Coverage for all things volleyball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
