Wheaton, Ill. - The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's volleyball team traveled back to Wheaton, Ill. for day two of the Marilyn Scribner invite. After suffering two rough losses the day prior, the Cougars are faced with two more tough opponents, starting off with the 3x NCAA D3 Champions, Central College Dutch (7-3), reigning from Pella, Iowa. The Cougs were swept in game one, losing in three sets to the Dutch. Game two brought the Alma College Scots (4-6), from Alma, Mich.. The Cougars fell short in game two, which resulted in a Scots sweep of the Cougars, their 3rd of the weekend.
Game One
Inside the Box Score:
- Rachel Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) and Neva Foster (Parker, Colo.) lead the team in kills with 7 apiece. Livesay also compiled 4 digs and 21 total attacks, while Foster also accounted for a dig and 19 total attacks.
- Libero Bethany Roethel (Westby, Wis) came up clutch on defense with 16 digs.
- Brynn Icenogle (Brentwood, Calif.) accumulated four kills with 15 total attacks, along with three blocks. Harmonie Cooper (Chicago, Ill.) joined in with four kills and eight total attacks, while adding three blocks of her own.
Here's What Happened
Set One
Two Central errors would allow CUC to jump out to an early 2-0 lead, which was short lived for the Cougars as they would not see the lead for the rest of the set. The Dutch would establish a strong 8-2 lead with five kills and an ace. The Cougs clawed back to cut the deficit to two points with a kill and three errors, making the score 8-6, but would fall behind quickly as the Dutch would rally for five consecutive scores. The Cougars had opportunities to get back, but were hurt by errors and an overwhelming Dutch offense. The Cougars rallied late down 24-12, with a kill by Icenogle and two blocks, but would ultimately fall short, 25-16, moving onto set two 0-1.
Set Two
The Cougars would score first again to open set two, taking advantage of a Central error. The teams traded points for a good while before the Dutch would again rally and take the lead by a large margin. A kill from Cooper brought the Cougs within two , making the score 5-3. However, from there Central would go on to score seven consecutive, thanks to a couple kills and three Cougar errors. Down 16-8, the Cougars seen a glimpse of home, putting together a rally with kills from Cooper
, Foster and
Weronika Kurnat (Burbank, Ill.), however, their efforts would not be enough as the Dutch would come away victorious yet again despite a late rally from the Cougars. Central advanced to set three 2-0 with a 25-17 victory.
Set Three
Facing elimination, the Cougars would put together by far their best performance for set three. They opened the set to a 4-0 lead with a kill from Foster and two service aces. The Dutch answered back right away with two kills of their own. The teams would exchange points until the Cougars saw their biggest lead of the day, 9-5, thanks to an attack error and block from Icenogle. However, three consecutive Dutch kills would get them right back into the match. After seeing both teams score numerous times, the two teams found themselves even at 15-15. The Dutch benefited from two kills and a Concordia service error to jump out to a seemingly comfortable 18-15 lead, but even after scoring three more times were faced by a Cougar rally, which tied the game at 21-21 thanks to kills from Kurnat and Cooper. However, the Dutch would find themselves on top again, putting together a victory-sealing stretch of two kills and would win the final set on two Cougar attack errors. The Central Dutch would win the third and final set 25-21, sweeping the Cougars 3-0.
The Cougars would take a short rest before facing the Alma College Scots at 12:30 PM.
Game Two
Inside the Box Score:
- Indiah Day (Merrillville, Ind.) had a big performance, tallying 11 kills, 28 total attacks, and a pair of digs along with 1 block
- On defense, Rosemary Brenner (Frankenmuth, Mich.) accounted for 13 digs.
- Debanhi Moreno (Dallas, Tex.) had 5 kills with 16 total attacks; also contributed with 3 digs
Here's What Happened
Set One
Day's first kill of the match would put the Cougars up quickly, 1-0. The Scots answered back quickly, scoring 3 on a couple errors and a service ace. The Cougs and Scots went back and forth, resulting in a 12-12 tie thanks to a kill from Moreno. After another battle with kills and errors from both sides, the Cougs and Scots were tied again at 20 apiece after a bad Alma set. However, the Scots would pull away quickly, scoring four consecutive serves. Down to their last chance, the Cougs would have a last chance, bringing the score to 24-21 after a service error. However, the first matchup would end on a Scot kill to move Alma College to the second set 1-0 with a 25-21 victory over the Cougars.
Set Two
The Scots opened set two with an immediate 4-0 lead with a pair of Cougar errors, an ace, and a kill. CUC answered back right away with another kill from Day, but the Scots took possession right back with a kill. Set two saw the Cougs stick around while they battled from behind, however, the Scots would find themselves up 15-9 and never looked back, putting together four consecutive scores to put the match nearly out of reach. Down 22-12, the Cougs refused to go down without a fight, scoring three thanks to two attack errors, a block from Kurnat, and another kill by Day
. Their rally was short lived, however, as the Scots would pull away victorious, taking set two with a score of 25-16, advancing to the third set 2-0.
Set Three
On the brink of being swept in back to back matches, the Cougars came out hot, jumping out front with the lead thanks to a kill from Foster
. The Scots answered back right away with a kill and ace, along with a pair of CUC errors, and would not look back from there. Alma would jump out to a 12-5 lead after a service error, but were hit back with a pair of kills by Livesay and
Jessalyne Perkins (Chicago, Ill.) to bring the Cougs deficit to six. The Scots, however, were not intimidated as they would extend their lead with another kill. The Cougars battled their way back into the set, bringing the deficit to just one at a 16-15 score thanks to a kill from Day and three Scot attack errors. While the Cougs battled until the very end, Alma would pull away yet again, sealing their 25-19 victory with a kill. The Scot would end the night 3-0, as the Cougars found themselves swept again.
What's Next
The Cougars will look to bounce back on Wednesday, September 23rd in Rockford where they will begin Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) conference play against rival Rockford University (1-6). The match will begin at 7 PM, and coverage for all things CUC women's volleyball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
