The Aquinas women's volleyball team continued their win streak, winning both of its matches on Saturday (Sept. 11) to finish out a 4-0 weekend. The Saints started the day winning a back-and-forth battle against Rochester 3-2. The next match was as equally hard-fought with a massive 3-2 victory versus the IU-South Bend Titans.
AQ rolled through the competition at the Aquinas/Cornerstone Invitational. Aquinas topped 8-3 IU-South Bend, 6-9 Rochester, 6-4 St. Thomas, and the 7-5 #24 IU-Kokomo Cougars on their way to a 4-0 weekend.
In the 1:00 PM match, Aquinas battled back and forth, winning the first, fourth, and fifth sets. The Saints won with respective set scores of 25-18, 25-27, 25-27, 25-18, and 15-6.
The Saints beat out the Warriors in most statistical categories, assisting AQ in getting the victory. Aquinas led in kills (73-55), hitting percentage (.258-.186), aces (10-1), and blocks (18-8).
Both
Abbi Perkins and
Abbie Harpenau set career-highs in kills in their match against the Warriors. Perkins had a whopping 17 kills (.500), with Harpenau contributing another 14 kills (.273) in the winning effort. Harpenau also had four digs and nine block assists, while Perkins had a pair of digs and seven block assists.
Two more Saints had double digit kills against the Warriors.
Meredith Kraus also had 14 kills (.265) and
Emily Jones had 12 kills (.345). Additionally, Jones had another fantastic defensive performance with 10 block assists.
Chloe Mitchell tied her career-high in assists with 52 in the five-set match. Not only was Mitchell an assist-machine for the Saints, but she also provided the team with two kills, 13 digs, and two blocks.
During the 3:00 matchup, the Saints rallied to win the second, third, and fifth sets to get payback on the Titans, after being defeated by IU-South Bend earlier in the season. The Saints received the victory with set scores of 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 28-30, and 15-9.
The Saints edged the Titans in all statistical categories other than digs, leading in kills (74-62), hitting percentage (.223-.183), assists (72-57), aces (4-2), and blocks (17.5-6.0)
Mitchell played another fantastic match as the setter, setting her career-high with 63 assists, along with a kill, 14 digs, and three block assists.
Kraus set a new personal-best with a team-leading 19 kills (.264) in the match against the Titans. In addition to her kill total, Kraus had six digs and two blocks.
Kraus was one of five saints to contribute more than 10 kills in the winning effort.
Jackie Rozell (14 kills), Perkins (13 kills), Harpenau (12 kills), and Jones (11 kills) all put in fantastic performances to boost the Saints over the top. Rozell is now just 15 kills away from 1,000 kills in her career.
Adrien Yondo had two solid defensive matches with a combined 28 digs, nine assists, and three aces.
Aquinas is back in action on Wednesday (Sept. 15) to take on their crosstown rival Cornerstone in Sturrus Center at 7:00 PM.
