Sandusky, Ohio - The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars women's volleyball team were up bright and early to take on day two of the Great Lakes Crossover featuring games against the Franciscan University of Steubenville Barons and the Heidelberg University Student Prince's. The Cougars took game one of the day winning 3-1 over the Barons, but fell short to the Student Princes 3-0, causing a split on the day.

Game One

Inside the Box Score:

• Indiah Day (Merrillville, Ind.) led the Cougar offense with 15 kills and added 13 digs on the defensive end.
• Janelle White (Morton Grove, Ill.) had an all-around great game where she had 20 digs, 3 aces, and 3 assists.
• Malainna Adler (Fenton, Mo.) and Ava Fitzgerald (Houston, Texas) split the wealth with 26 and 17 assists, respectively.

Here's What Happened

Set One

The first point of the set was rewarded to the Barons after a setting error by the Cougars, but Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) wasted no time smashing a kill to tie the game back up 1-1. From there, the Cougars struggled to maintain momentum, however a kill by Day would start a 3-0 run, bringing the Cougars within two, where the score was 7-5 favoring the Barons. Jordan Brown (Bensenville, Ill.), Neva Foster (Parker, Colo.), Hunt, and Day would try to attack the deficit with kills, but their efforts would fall short forcing the Cougars into their first timeout of the day where the score was 17-11. Out of timeout, kills from Day and Foster, along with service ace by Harmonie Cooper would keep the Cougars close, but they would fall just short of taking set one. Heading into set two, the score was 25-21, Barons took one. 

Set Two

The Barons kept their momentum from the first set grabbing the first point of set two, but thanks to kills from Foster, Hunt, and Day, as well as back-to-back service aces from Cooper, the Cougars took an early 6-5 lead. Another ace for the Cougars, this time by transfer senior Eva Fitzgerald (Houston, Texas), would force the Barons to take their first timeout of the day. The Cougars now led 7-5. Maintaining momentum, the Cougars would continue to show their dominance by increasing their lead 16-8, forcing the Barons to take their second timeout of the set. Out of timeout, the Cougars never looked back. The team only allowed their opponents a total of six more points in the set. The final point of the set was thanks to a Foster kill, allowing the Cougars to take set two 25-14. Heading into set three, each team had a set win under their belt.

Set Three

Hunt and Day with kills, and Cooper with powerful service aces would set the tone in set three, giving the Cougars a strong 8-6 lead. The Cougars would then have a 5-2 run, forcing the Barons to take their first timeout of the set with the score at 13-9. The Cougars maintained their lead, but not without the Barons fighting back and bringing the score within two. With the score at 19-17 favoring the Cougars, the team would take their first timeout of the set to reset and regain composure. Out of timeout, the race to 25 would not be easy, but the Cougars kept their lead, and took set three 25-21. Heading into set four, the Cougars were now up 2-1.

Set Four

Kills by Hunt, Cooper, and Day, as well as service aces by Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) would put the Cougars in a comfortable 8-5 lead in set four. Neither team was willing to go down without a fight. The Cougars and the Barons would exchange ace for ace and kill for kill until the Cougars led by just one point. With the score at 19-18, the Cougars would call for a timeout to regroup before heading into the final points of the set. Kills by Brown, Foster, and ace by White would finalize the game. The Cougars took set four 25-21, and game one of the day 3-1.

The Cougars had a short break before heading into game two of the day.

 

Game Two

Inside the Box Score:

• Foster and Hunt lead the offense with seven kills each.
• White held her own with 10 digs and four assists.
• Adler and Fitzgerald each had 12 assists, and Adler also had eight digs.

Here's What Happened

Set One

The Cougars started off slow but kills by Livesay and Hunt helped the team to a tie game at 6 apiece. From there, the Cougars fell behind briefly, but pulled momentum back in their favor with a pair of kills by both Hunt and Brown, tying the game back up at 15-15. The two teams would go on to exchange kill for kill but the efforts of Livesay, Hunt, Foster, and Brown wouldn't be enough to take set one. The Student Prince's took set one 25-23.

Set Two

Similar to set one, the Student Prince's would take the lead early, but kills from Hunt, Day and Quevedo pulled the Cougars into an early 5-4 lead. From there, the Student Prince offense soared and they went on a 14-4 run, bringing their lead to eight points. Ending their moment was Cooper with a kill, but the Cougars still trailed, 16-8. The Cougars used what offensive strength they could to comeback but the deficit proved too strong and they fell in set two 25-23 once more. The Student Prince's were now up 2-0. 

Set Three

The Student Prince's kept their momentum throughout the entirety of set three where they found an early four point lead, which was ended with a kill by Hunt to make the score 6-2. After a few rounds of exchanging kills, the Student Prince's went on a 10 point run, bringing the score to 20-8. Foster would get one more kill for the Cougars, but with just five points separating the Student Prince's from victory, Foster's kill would not be enough for the Cougars to take over. The Student Prince's took set three 25-9, and swept the match 3-0. 

What's Next

The Cougars will take a few days off from competition before having their home opener September 6th. First serve is set for 11:00 AM inside of Geiseman Gymnasium. Coverage for all things CUC women's volleyball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.