Joilet, Ill. — Day 1 of the St. Francis Tournament showed some flashes of potential for the Aquinas women's volleyball team but ultimately ended with two more losses for the youthful Saints to learn from. AQ falls to a deceptive 1-7 overall record despite only being swept once so far this season.
Both losses on Friday evening (9/2) were decided by a final score of 3-1.
Match 1: Aquinas 1, #11 Indiana Wesleyan 3. Set scores: 27-25, 20-25, 20-25, 22-25.
The Saints showed they weren't scared of No. 11-ranked Indiana Wesleyan (4-1) by winning the opening frame 27-25. Tied at 25-25, AQ got the last two points needed on an attacking error by the Wildcats and a set-winning block from
Brooke Nicholson and
Abbi Perkins.
AQ was strong at the net all match, posting 15.5 team blocks.
Nonetheless, Indiana Wesleyan recovered by taking the next two sets by the same score, 25-20. After hitting .158 in the opening frame, the Wildcats' attack bolstered a .323 hitting percentage across sets two and three. IWU was led by three hitters with over 10 kills: Martina Demarchi (17), Eva Joldersma (14) and Cassie Gregory (12).
The possibility of forcing a fifth set looking out of reach for the Saints when they trailed 19-15 in the fourth frame. Yet, they slowly chipped away and found themselves only down a point at 23-22.
However, a kill from Demarchi and an AQ attack error halted the Saints' comeback.
Freshman outside hitter
Jenna Lee finished with a career-high 11 kills to pace Aquinas. Nicholson was the most efficient with a .316 hitting percentage on eight kills. Sophomore setter
Cassie Sustrich provided 33 assists.
Indiana Wesleyan rolled on with its only loss so far coming against No. 1-ranked Missouri Baptist last weekend.
Match 2: Aquinas 1, Missouri Valley 3. Set scores: 21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 23-25.
On the brink of being swept for only the second time this season, Aquinas salvaged a 25-20 third set win to keep the match going. Missouri Valley (9-2) needed a match-winning kill from Karolayne Santos to hold off the Saints 25-23 in the fourth frame.
Junior middle hitter
Samee Teachworth notched the final two kills in the third set to keep AQ alive. She finished with a match-high 15 kills with no attacking errors on 24 attacking attempts for a sparkling .625 attack percentage. The Aquinas' all-time record for a single-game attack percentage (with a minimum 12 kills) was set by Chelsea Phillips in 2011 with 17 kills on 19 attacks for a .895 percentage.
Perkins added 10 more kills, but the Saints only hit .184 as a team. Surprisingly, Missouri Valley wasn't much better with a .198 team attack percentage.
Sustrich tossed up 39 assists while
Jennifer Johnson led the Saints with eight digs.
Aquinas continues the St. Francis Tournament on Saturday morning (9/3) with a pair of matches. First, AQ plays St. Francis for a second time this season at 10 a.m. They lost a five-set heartbreaker to the tournament hosts in their Aquinas Classic season-opener on August 26. Following the conclusion of that match, the Saints wrap up the tournament by playing (RV) Loyola (La.).
AQ is back at home on September 9-10 to help host the shared Aquinas/Cornerstone Invite.
