Loma Linda, Calif. — The Aquinas women's volleyball team opened the 2023 season with two wins and a loss Thursday (Aug. 17) at the Loma Linda Academy in Loma Linda, California.
The Saints won their season opener with a 3-0 victory over Hope International before falling to Life Pacific, 3-0. AQ (2-1) finished the day back in the win column with a five-set victory over tournament hosts La Sierra.
Official stats provided by the tournament hosts are used in the match summaries below, but they're subject to change upon further review and pending corrections.
Aquinas 3, Hope International 0 (26-24, 25-19, 27-25)
Two sets went pass 25 points, but AQ showed resolve to sweep the Royals in their season opener. The Saints took the first set 26-24 after back-to-back serves went their way. The first was a Hope International service error to force set point, and the second was a set-winning ace by senior
Peyton Goschka.
The second set remained close until the later stages when Aquinas went on a 6-1 run to take a commanding 24-18 lead.
Jenna Lee,
Taylor Reha and
Abbi Perkins all had kills in the sequence, along with
Jennifer Johnson picking up an ace. AQ claimed the second set, 25-19, on a Royals' attack error.
The Saints completed the sweep by scoring four out of the last five points to win the third set 27-25. Senior
Samee Teachworth delivered a clutch kill to escape set point and tied the score at 24-24. She finished with a match-high 11 kills on 20 attack attempts (.450 hitting percentage).
Freshman setter Reha delivered the match-winning kill to put a bow on an excellent debut performance for the team. She picked up six kills on seven attempts to go with 29 assists and five digs.
Madison Lawson and Lee each had eight kills.
Ryleigh Blough was a force in the middle with seven total blocks.
Jordyn Carlyle (16) and
Julia Schweihofer (10) each finished with double-digits in digs.
The Saints had a .295 hitting percentage as a team with 10 total team blocks.
Life Pacific 3, Aquinas 0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-23)
The Saints only managed to muster up 31 kills in Game 2 with a .085 attack percentage. Life Pacific took advantage, picking up its second straight win without dropping a set to start the new season.
The Warriors used a 5-0 run half through the opening set to go up 1-0, closed out the second set with a 6-1 run to seize control and finished the match with four straight points to come from behind and win the third set 25-23.
Madison Lawson had a team-high 10 kills for the Saints on 21 attack attempts. Perkins added six more. Junior transfer setter
Lydia Harper made her debut with eight assists, five digs and three kills in two sets played.
Hannah Caddow led the Warriors with 13 kills and 18 digs.
Aquinas 3, La Sierra 2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 15-6)
A back-and-forth nail-bitter ended the first day. AQ rebounded after dropping the first set by taking the next two. The Saints had a 22-19 lead in the fourth set, but let the Eagles force a fifth frame with a decisive 6-1 run.
The all-important fifth set was last tied at 4-4 before Aquinas sprung away. Kills from Lawson and Perkins, a pair of aces from Harper and an attack error from the Golden Eagles put the score at 10-4 in the Saints' favor.
Aquinas scored the final four points of the match with two kills from Lee, an ace from Carlyle and a tag-team block from
Lauren Chioini and Teachworth. AQ finished with 10 team blocks and 13 aces.
The Saints wrap up their five match California trip with two more contests on Friday (Aug. 18) against Saint Katherine at 11 a.m. and The Master's at 5 p.m. Both times are EST. All matches are being played at the Loma Linda Academy.
Aquinas has its home opener on Aug. 25 with a tri-match against Goshen and Calumet College of St. Joseph starting at 3 p.m.
