The #16 Aquinas women's volleyball team split a pair of decisions on Saturday (Sept. 7) in the Sturrus Center to cap off the Aquinas/Cornerstone Invitational. AQ notched a big 3-2 victory over Indiana-Kokomo with the strength of a 15-12 fifth-set triumph before running into an unbeaten #24 Marian squad, which handed the Saints a 3-0 defeat in the top-25 matchup.
Three of the four teams Aquinas (3-6 overall) faced on the weekend were undefeated, as the Saints faced an rigorous early-season tournament for the second week in a row. AQ also squared off with undefeated Thomas More and Indiana Wesleyan on Friday night, falling to both schools in five-set heartbreakers.
On Saturday, the Saints took the opening two sets over IU-Kokomo (9-5) and scored the last three points of the match to earn the five-set victory by scores of 25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 16-25, and 15-12. Marian (10-0) was too much for Aquinas in the nightcap, taking down the Saints by scores of 26-24, 25-22, and 25-18.
In the opener against IU-Kokomo, the teams were pretty even statistically, but the Cougars led in kills (58-51), hitting percentage (.188 to .174), assists (52-49), aces (11-10), digs (72-67), and blocks (10-7). Despite those figures, AQ was able to prevail with its first five-set victory of the season.
Kylie Christensen led all players with a match-best 14 kills, while adding four block assists.
Payton Klein delivered 13 kills and three blocks (one solo), while
Kali Crawford was one kill shy of a triple-double, notching 36 assists, 12 digs, and nine kills in just 16 attempts for a .562 hitting percentage. Crawford – who did not commit an error on her 16 attempts – tallied back-to-back-to-back kills to win the fifth set by the 15-12 final.
Maddie Ingraham and
Ally Blackford each posted six kills.
Karly Morris picked up 24 digs and served up five of AQ's 10 aces.
Meredith Kraus added nine digs, four block assists, and two aces.
Against Marian, Christensen also led the way with 12 kills and no errors on 20 attempts for a .600 hitting percentage. She added three block assists. Blackford put down six kills and totaled six digs and two aces. Klein recorded seven digs, six kills, and three block assists.
Marian tallied edges in most categories, including kills (49-39), hitting percentage (.254 to .195), assists (46-39), and digs (58-52), and aces (4-2). AQ held a slight 6-5 edge in total blocks.
Jackie Rozell notched seven kills and just one error. Morris scooped up 17 digs, while Crawford handed out 32 assists, six digs, three block assists, and three kills.
Aquinas begins conference play on Wednesday (Sept. 11) at crosstown rival Cornerstone at 7:00 p.m.
