Rockford, Ill. - The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars women's volleyball team opened Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play on the road to take on the Regents of Rockford University. After five sets of play, the Regents won 3-2.
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Inside the Box Score:
- Indiah Day (Merrillville, Ind.) had an all-around powerful night where she had a season and career-high 28 digs as well as season and career-high 23 kills to lead the Cougars. Day also added two aces.
- Lili Hunt (Greenfield, Ind.) was the only other Cougar to reach double-digits in kills where she had 12. Hunt also had three blocks, as well as two assists.Â
- Malainna Adler (Fenton, Mo.) had a season high 50 assists and Bethany Roethel (Westby, Wis.) and Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) shared the wealth in the back line where they had 16 and 15 digs respectively.
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Here's What Happened
Set One
The Regents were on the board first but a service ace by Day and kill by Hunt brought the game to a tie at two apiece. After a multitude of attack errors by the Regents, the Cougars pulled into the lead making the score 6-2. The Regents were able to tie the game back up at six with kills of their own, but McKayla LeVoy (Kankakee, Ill.), Neva Foster (Parker, Colo.), and Harmonie Cooper (Chicago, Ill.) each got a kill to bring the Cougars back into a 9-7 lead. The Cougars continued to show their offensive strength increasing their lead to as much as five, but the Regents slowly started to comeback where they were able to not only tie up the game at 18 apiece forcing a Cougar timeout, but out of timeout, the Regents continued their momentum to take a 20-18 lead. The Cougars tried to come back, but the Regents took set one 25-23, and led 1-0.
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Set Two
The Regents found themselves on the board first yet again, but back-to-back kills by LeVoy would stop the Regents momentum and shift it to favor the Cougars as they took the lead 2-1. The Cougars increased their lead to 4-1, but after a little bit of back and forth play, the Regents pulled themselves ahead where the score was 11-7. The Cougars then took a timeout to regroup, but out of timeout, the Regents continued their momentum and increased their lead to six points where the score was 18-12. Out of timeout, the Regents obtained another kill, but Foster and Hunt took matters into their own hands with kills to bring the score to 19-16. Kate Foley (Milwaukee, Wis.) made a crucial appearance where she served an ace to bring the Cougars within two at 19-17. Unfortunately, the Cougars only added five more points to the scoreboard in the second set and fell 25-22. The Regents now led, 2-0.
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Set Three
The Cougars claimed early control in set three where they were on the board first with a kill from Day, followed by an ace by Day. The 2-0 lead did not last long as the Regents quickly caught up at two apiece. The Regents maintained momentum in their favor to reach a four-point lead where the score was 11-7 before forcing a Cougars timeout. Taking advantage of an attack error by the Regents, Cougars Hunt, Livesay, and Ava Quevedo (Colorado Springs, Colo.) used their powerful swings to obtain kills and brought the Cougars within two where the score was 13-11, still favoring the Regents. With this rush of momentum for the Cougars, the Regents were forced into their first timeout of the set, but would not prove beneficial as out of timeout the Cougars would again take advantage of an attack error by the Regents and then follow up with a kill by Livesay to tie the score up at 13 apiece. The Regents regained the momentum and increased their score 17 points to take over the lead once again. The two teams would go back-and-forth where they were tied at 22 a piece. Day and the duo of Hunt and Quevedo with a block called set three, and the Cougars took their first set of the night, where the final score was 25-22. Heading into set four the Regents led 2-1.Â
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Set Four
The Cougars kicked off set four with a 5-0 run, highlighted by an Adler ace, Quevedo solo block, and Day kill. Although the Regents tried to come back, the Cougar dominance of set four continued on where the score would be 14-9 favoring the Cougars, before the Regents took their first timeout of the set. Out of timeout, Day, Quevedo, and Livesay all had kills to aid in increasing the Cougar lead to 25-20. The deficit proved too far gone for the Regents and the Cougars dominated set four 25-14. Heading into set five each team had two sets apiece.
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Set Five
The fifth set was a true test of who wanted the win more. The Cougars had an early 4-1 lead, but the Regents quickly came back and from that point on the deficit was never more than two points apart. The Cougars held the lead for most of the first half of the final set, but the Regents pulled through and were the first to eight points. The remainder of the set was a nail biter where the scores were tied at 10, 11, 12, and 13, however the Regents had the last bit of energy needed to take the fifth set 15-13. After five sets of play, the Regents won 3-2.
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What's Next
The Cougars will head to Michigan to participate in the Alma College Invitational where their first game will be played on Friday, September 26, against Calvin University. Coverage for all things CUC women's volleyball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.Â
