The Aquinas women's volleyball team hosted both Huntington and Spring Arbor in two non-conference showdowns on Saturday night (Feb. 27) inside the Sturrus Center. AQ earned two sweeps, first taking Huntington in straight sets by scores of 25-17, 25-13, and 25-22 before earning another win against Spring Arbor by set scores of 25-23, 25-16, and 25-21.
AQ dominated in the first two sets against the Huntington Foresters, tallying 21 kills. The Foresters rallied in the third set, as the Saints and Huntington shared 12 lead changes and had five ties. Huntington led AQ 22-20 in the third set before the Saints scored the next five points earning the sweep. The loss moves Huntington to 3-16 overall.
Aquinas led the Foresters in kills, totaling 35 as a team to Huntington's 22 total. The Saints dished out 33 assists and tallied 49 digs. The Foresters recorded 18 assists and 41 digs. Aquinas edged the Foresters on the defensive end notching seven team blocks to Huntington's six.
Meredith Kraus was the kill leader in the first match (10). Kraus also posted eight digs and two block assists. Abbi Perkins finished with nine kills (.471) and tallied three block assists. Chloe Mitchell dished out 29 of AQ's 33 assist total, and added 11 digs and a solo block.
Brenna Poole recorded seven kills, three digs, and three block assists. Ally Blackford posted five kills and three digs while Olivia Martinelli totaled six digs and three assists. Claire Phillips finished with three kills and three block assists, and Jenna Berens added four service aces for the Saints.
In the second match against Spring Arbor, Aquinas outperformed the Cougars offensively totaling 39 kills (.260). The Cougars tallied 35 kills and hit .168 as a team. The Saints dished out 38 assists to Spring Arbor's 33 total.
On the defensive end, AQ took the advantage in both digs (54-44) and team blocks (9.5-3). Aquinas also posted seven service aces. The loss moves Spring Arbor to a 6-12 overall record.
Jackie Rozell led the Saints with 10 kills, hitting .429 and added 11 digs. Emily Jones posted eight kills and hit a .500 percentage. Jones also finished with three block assists. Kali Crawford dished out 32 assists while adding nine digs and four kills.
Kenzi Dobosiewicz finished with a match-high 14 digs and added four service aces. Payton Klein totaled seven kills, seven digs, and five block assists for the Saints. Samee Teachworth posted an impressive six block assist total while tallying three kills. Adrien Yondo totaled nine digs and four assists while Kylie Christensen tallied three block assists and three kills.
The two sweeps advance Aquinas to a 12-1 overall record and are 6-1 in WHAC play. The Saints return to the court Friday (Mar. 5) to face the Gray Wolves of Lourdes in a big WHAC contest. The match is set to begin at 8:00 PM in Sylvania, Ohio.
