Lima, Ohio – The Aquinas women's volleyball team earned a pair of victories on Saturday in Ohio, including a WHAC four-set victory and a non-conference five-set triumph. AQ took down UNOH on its home floor in a 3-1 win before outlasting Cumberland in a five-set battle to close the weekend.
Aquinas 3, UNOH 1 (30-28, 19-25, 27-25, 26-24)
One night after a hard-fought showdown against conference leader Indiana Tech, the Saints found themselves in another tight contest against the Racers on their home floor. AQ outlasted UNOH by winning the first, third, and fourth sets – all in extra points, including a wild 30-28 first set final.
Although Aquinas held a pencil thin 58-57 edge in kills, UNOH hit .252 to AQ's .222 mark. The Saints, however, came out on top in aces (13-8), blocks (9-5), and assists (54-51). UNOH was in front in digs, 74-69.
The first set was tied late at points 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28 before a
Jenna Lee kill and a Racer error gave Aquinas the tough 30-28 victory. UNOH hit .389 with only two errors in the second set, but AQ remained close at 19-18. The home Racers scored six of the last seven points to even the match at 1-1.
UNOH took that momentum into the third set and led 24-20, serving for set point. Aquinas answered with four consecutive points: a Lee kill, an ace from
Julia Schweihofer, and back-to-back combined blocks from
Samee Teachworth and
Abbi Perkins to make it 24-24. The Saints staved off UNOH's set point at 25-24 by scoring the final three points – which included kills from Perkins and Teachworth to end the frame.
AQ held a tight 24-22 advantage in the fourth before consecutive UNOH points knotted the score at 24-all. The Saints responded with
Lydia Harper assisting on back-to-back kills from Lee to end the set and match in Aquinas favor.
The result moved AQ to 25-5 overall and 13-2 in league play. Aquinas improved to 7-1 on the road. UNOH dropped to 10-17 on the year and 3-12 in conference action.
Teachworth provided 14 kills, zero errors, and a .538 hitting percentage, to go with three blocks.
Lauren Chioini hit .345 and added 13 kills and three blocks. Lee (five digs, two blocks) and Perkins (five blocks, three digs) both contributed 11 kills.
Harper finished with 44 assists, 15 digs, and seven kills, while
Jordyn Carlyle picked up 20 digs.
Jennifer Johnson served four of AQ's 13 aces. Schweihofer,
Chloe Hogarth, and
Kaylin Poole served two each.
Peyton Goschka picked up seven digs and
Cece Pelak added six.
Aquinas 3, Cumberland 2 (25-19, 19-25, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12)
The teams split the first four sets – AQ won sets one and four, Cumberland took sets two and three – before the Saints clinched the win with a 15-12 fifth set final. Aquinas improves to 5-1 in five-setters this season.
Cumberland posted a 55-43 advantage in kills, though AQ managed a .120 hitting percentage and held the Phoenix to a .101 attack clip. The Saints notched a 13-8 edge in blocks and a 78-71 advantage in digs.
Three of the opening four sets were 25-19 final scores, but the teams would need to go to a fifth set to decide the winner. Cumberland led 9-8 before Aquinas scored four straight points, including three consecutive kills from Teachworth,
Melissa Beachnau, and Chioini. Ahead 13-10, AQ used a
Jeralyn Hoppes-Chioini combined rejection for the 14-10 edge. A hitting error by Cumberlands finished the back-and-forth battle at 15-12.
19 Saints saw action in the victory, with a dozen players notching at least one kill. Hoppes led AQ with eight kills, Teachworth added five, and Chioini and
Ryleigh Blough chipped in five apiece. Blough posted seven block assists, while Hoppes and Chioini totaled four each.
Taylor Reha handed out 27 assists to go along with 14 digs, which tied Johnson for team-high honors. Johnson served five of AQ's eight aces.
Kami Morse chipped in 13 digs and five assists, while Schweihofer picked up 12 digs. Aquinas improves to 26-5 overall; Cumberland fell to 16-15.
The Saints return to WHAC play with a 7:00 p.m. match next Wednesday (Oct. 25) at UM-Dearborn.
