River Forest, Ill. - The Cougars women's volleyball team takes on the Kalamazoo Hornets at their first home game of the 2024 season. After four sets of play the Cougars take the victory over the Hornets 3-1.
Inside the Box Score:
- Malainna Adler (Fenton, Mo.) led the Cougars with 33 assists.
- Brooke Christensen (Blaine, Minn.) led the Cougar win with 15 kills, two assists, and one ace.
- Neva Foster (Parker, Colo.) had 11 kills on the night.
- Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) brought down 9 kills.
Set 1
The first set of Geisman Gymnasium action of the 2024 season began with the Cougars on top. The Cougars gained a lead early after two back-to-back kills from Jessalyne Perkins (Chicago, Ill.), bringing the score to 6-2, in favor of the Cougars. The Hornets try to respond with a 3-point run of their own, but Perkins comes back with another kill, bringing the score to 7-5, Cougars.
Set one continued on as a battle, the Hornets brought in a 4-point run which was answered with a five-point run from the Cougars. With the Cougars leading 15-10, the Hornets knew they needed to chip away at the point deficit. The Hornets were able to go on a small 3-point run after an attack error from the Cougars, but the Cougars took charge from there. A combination of a kills from Hunt, service ace from Micaela Barraza (Cape Coral, Fla.), and kill from Christensen brought the Cougars back to a five-point lead, with a score of 20-15.
The Hornets tried their best to come back but the Cougars did not let up. The Cougars took set one with a score of 25-18.
Set 2
The Hornets showed their unhappiness with the loss of the first set and came out with fire. A combination of several kills as well as aces quickly brought the score to 12-2, in favor of the Hornets, and forced the Cougars into a timeout. Out of timeout, Foster was able to bring in a kill for the Cougars to chip away at the point deficit.
While the Cougars struggled to find their rhythm, the Hornets easily responded to a Cougar Christensen kill with a 6-point run, bringing the score to 21-6, favoring the Hornets. The Cougars were able to gain a little bit of momentum from back-to-back kills from Foster, but ultimately the deficit was too large to comeback. The Hornets took set two, with a score of 25-13.
Set 3
The Cougars came out hot in set three, proving the previous set was unlike them. The team wracked up kills from both Perkins and Hunt, as well as an ace from Janelle White (Morton Grove, Ill.), immediately which brought the score to 5-0, in favor of the Cougars. The Hornets tried to fight back after getting a kill, but the Cougars stayed hot, while they added three more points, two kills from Christensen, and a tricky dump from Adler. This brought the score to 8-1, Cougars still holding the lead.
The Cougars and the Hornets switched off on points, going kill for kill. Foster made her name very well known tonight as she added another monstrous kill for the Cougars and helped increase the lead to 9, where the score was now 22-13, Cougars led.
The Hornets weren't ready to give up quite yet, as they were able to bring in a solid 5-point run. The Cougars were finally able to side out after a kill from Foster, and ultimately took the win in the third set with a final score of 25-20, Cougars. The Cougars were now up two sets to one.
Set 4
Set four started off comparable to the beginning of set three. With kills from Hunt, McKayla LeVoy (Kankakee, Ill.), and Christensen, the Cougars quickly found themselves in a 7-0 lead to open the set. The Hornets were able to get a few points of their own off of errors, but Perkins was able to put down back-to-back kills, which increased the lead for the Cougars and brought the score to 13-4.
Again, we saw a few back-and-forth points shared between the Cougars and Hornets, but the Cougars didn't feel like sharing for long. Combinations of service aces, blocks, and kills from the Cougars brought in a 5-point run, a lead the Hornets would not be able to comeback from. After the run, the score was 21-8, in favor of the Cougars. The Hornets battled until the very end, but the deficit was much too large, the Cougars took set four with a score of 25-14, and took the game in four.
The Cougars will be back in action Saturday, September 7th @ 10 am against Blackburn College at the Maroon and Gold Tri inside of Geisman Gymnasium. Coverage for this game and all CUC Women's Volleyball games can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
