Grand Rapids, Mich. - The Aquinas women's volleyball team took down crosstown rival Cornerstone by a 3-1 final score in Wednesday night's (Nov. 8) WHAC quarterfinal match inside the Sturrus Center. The teams traded wins in the first two sets before AQ stormed away with the four-set victory, the third time in 2023 the Saints topped the Golden Eagles.
The final line score saw Aquinas end up victorious 26-24, 21-25, 25-11, and 25-18. It is the 30th win of the season for the Saints; just the seventh time in school history (dating back to 1977) that AQ has registered at least 30 wins in a year. The 2018 Saints finished 35-8; that is the only other 30-win season in recent history, dating all the way back to 1996.
AQ is 30-7 on the season and advances to the WHAC semifinals on Friday night (Nov. 10) at Indiana Tech. Aquinas took all three matches from Cornerstone (14-17), dropping only two sets to the Golden Eagles in their matchups. It is the first time since the 2010 season that Aquinas defeated CU three times in one year.
The opening set was in CU's favor in the early going, with the visitors leading 11-4 and eventually 14-6. Aquinas chipped away and used back-to-back kills from Abbi Perkins to make it a 14-10 contest. Samee Teachworth put down a kill to start a 4-0 run that included consecutive combined rejections by Teachworth and Lydia Harper, tying the set at 16-all.
Cornerstone pulled back out in front 21-17 and appeared to be in control at 23-18. The Saints ran off five consecutive points: a Jeralyn Hoppes-Lauren Chioini block, a Jenna Lee-Chioini rejection, and kills from Lee, Perkins, and Chioini to tie the score at 23-23. Trailing 24-23, AQ used a kill from Lee and two more from Perkins to steal the frame in thrilling fashion, 26-24.
Aquinas held a 16-12 edge in set two before a 5-0 Cornerstone run put the visitors in front, 17-16. The CU lead went to 23-19 and although the Saints scored consecutive points to make it 23-21, the Golden Eagles took the set by a 25-21 score to even the match.
Cornerstone scored the first point of the third set - and then Aquinas scored the next eight. Perkins had three kills and combined with Chioini on a block, while Jennifer Johnson's strong serving propelled AQ to a massive 8-1 lead. The cushion swelled to 14-5 on consecutive aces from Jordyn Carlyle and to 20-8 on a pair of Teachworth kills. Another Lee kill ended the set in a dominant 25-11 victory.
Perkins started the fourth set in style, smashing her 13th kill of the contest on the opening point and recording her 1,000th career kill in the process. The team fed off that play to build a 6-1 edge after two Julia Schweihofer aces on back-to-back points. Kills from Hoppes and Perkins made it 17-11 but the Golden Eagles clawed back to 17-15.
From there, AQ scored the next four points on two kills from Teachworth, another one from Lee, and a Teachworth-Harper rejection for a 21-15 advantage. To close the match, Chioini posted a kill and Harper served up back-to-back aces to finish the set and match in Aquinas' favor.
In addition to her 1,000th career kill, Perkins notched a match-high 14 kills, while both Teachworth and Lee added 10 kills. Teachworth and Chioini provided four blocks apiece and Chioini put down seven kills in 12 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage.
Harper neared a triple-double with 39 assists, 11 digs, and eight kills, while sprinkling in three aces and three block assists. Hoppes tallied six kills, four digs, and three block assists, while Carlyle scooped a match-best 13 digs to go with three aces. Schweihofer added four aces and six digs; Johnson and Hogarth served two aces apiece.
The Saints travel to Fort Wayne, Ind. for the semifinals on Friday night. Aquinas will face Siena Heights at 7:30 p.m. in the second semifinal of the evening. AQ has defeated SHU twice this season, including most recently on Oct. 14 in a 3-1 home victory. The winner will play in Saturday's championship match against either Indiana Tech or Madonna.
