The Aquinas women's volleyball team entered the WHAC Tournament on Wednesday night (Nov. 13) in the Sturrus Center as the #2 seed, but the Saints were upended by seventh-seeded Lourdes in a 3-0 defeat. A team AQ had defeated twice this season, Lourdes put together a tremendous offensive performance and swept the Saints in close sets by scores of 25-22, 25-21, and 25-22.
It was an unfortunate ending to the 2019 season for Aquinas, as the Saints were entering the league tournament with a season-high six-match winning streak in which they dropped just one set, including a 3-0 sweep of perennial power Madonna just four days ago. Lourdes, however, hit .379 as a team and committed only five hitting errors in three sets, an incredibly low number considering the Gray Wolves took 103 swings offensively.
Lourdes advances to the WHAC semifinals with a 14-15 overall record, where it will take on Madonna, a team the Gray Wolves have defeated twice this season. Aquinas' 2019 campaign ends with a 17-13 overall record.
Despite the sweep, the match was extremely close throughout the contest. In total, there were 25 tie scores – 11 apiece in the first and third sets – and 11 lead changes. AQ hit a respectable .254 with 45 kills, which was more than Lourdes' total of 44 putaways. The Saints committed 16 attack errors, while Lourdes had just five miscues.
The Gray Wolves held small leads in digs (50-46), blocks (3-1), assists (43-42), and aces (5-4).
Jackie Rozell led Aquinas with 16 kills, tying for the match-high in that category. Both Payton Klein and Kylie Christensen put down nine kills, with Christensen hitting .421 and Klein connecting at a .350 pace, with five digs and a solo block.
Kali Crawford recorded 35 assists, eight digs, four kills, and an ace, while Olivia Martinelli posted three aces and three digs. Adrien Yondo picked up eight digs and Sam VanHouten supplied five digs and three assists.
Maddie Ingraham recorded seven kills in 19 swings, while fellow seniors Karly Morris and Kenzie Sanders picked up 10 and four digs, respectively. The trio won 88 matches in their four seasons at AQ, including 35 victories last year en route to the 2018 WHAC Championship, which was the first title at Aquinas in 23 seasons.
