Fort Wayne, Ind. – The (RV) Aquinas College women's volleyball team continued their success in the first match of the day with a 4-1 win against Marian University. The Saints lost their first set 16-25 but battled back to take the next three sets. Mallory Keller led the team in kills, recording an outstanding 24 kills over the four sets. 

Aquinas College finished off the first day of the Onset Invitational strong by besting the #16 IU-Kokomo Cougars. The Saints came out strong in the first set with a 25-12 win. Kokomo responded in the second, but AQ closed out the match with two more incredible sets for the upset victory. Lydia Harper had a heavy presence on the court and recorded 50 assists through the four sets. 

Aquinas 3, Marian University 1 (16-25, 25-20, 25-18, 26-24)

The Knights were able to get an early lead on the Saints, but after an ace from Julia Schweihofer and two kills by Keller, AQ was back in the set. Marian went on to go unanswered for six points and later went on another five-point run. The Saints were not able to fight their way back and the Knights took the first set 25-16. 

Aquinas came out hot for the start of the second set going on a four-point run featuring key blocks by Harper, Keller, and Samee Teachworth, a kill by Keller, and a service ace from Jenna Lee. Aquinas went unanswered for another four points late in the set to put them ahead after another service ace and kill from Lee. Consecutive kills from Keller set up set point before the Saints were able to take this set 25-20 following a block from Lauren Chioini and Harper.

A couple of errors from Marian and a kill recorded by Chioini gave the Saints a quick 3-0 lead to start the third set. This set was a back-and-forth battle until the Saints went on an incredible 10-0 run to put them up 20-12. The Knights were able to make a few runs late in the set but were no match for the Saints, who took this set 25-18.\

Teachworth was able to score the first point of the final set and helped AQ get ahead 2-0. The Knights got into a rhythm and went on a five-point run that put the Saints behind 3-6. The set was tooth and nail until the Saints put down the hammer and scored six points to put them up 18-16. Both teams were able to rally at the end pushing the set to a 26-24 finish in favor of the Saints.

By the Numbers

• Aquinas held a slim advantage in the stat line, leading in kills (54-44), aces (7-2), and digs (69-62)
• This is the first time the two teams faced off against each other since 2019. 
• Keller is averaging 5.8 kills per set through 10 sets this season.
• Harper recorded 44 assists, averaging 11 assists per set. She is also now averaging 11.6 assists per set over the first three matches. Harper also recorded five kills, four blocks, and eight digs.
• Bella Hommes had 24 digs, averaging 6 digs per set. 

Aquinas 3, IU-Kokomo 1 (25-12, 20-25, 25-18, 25-15) 

Aquinas was able to carry its energy into the IU-Kokomo match and obtained a quick 4-0 lead with big kills from Teachworth and Keller. The Cougars then had two quick kills to bring the score to 4-2 and the teams began to trade points. Teachworth and Madison Lawson were able to stop IU-Kokomo's attack attempts to help AQ edge a lead. An attack error, two service aces from Lee, and a kill from Harper were able to seal this set with a 25-12 finish as the Saints never let up. 

IU-Kokomo was able to turn it around in the second set with a quick kill to put them up. They kept pushing and went on a three-point run to push the score to a four-point advantage. With kills from Chioini and Lee, the Saints were able to tie the game 6-6 with a four-point run. The score remained close throughout the set, but IUK finally began to pull away at the end of the set. Despite Aquinas' best efforts, the Cougars were able to pull out a win for the second set, finishing 25-20. 

Keller was able to put down a kill to get a quick jump in the third set. However, IU-Kokomo answered this with a three-point run to put the score at 3-1. The teams went on to exchange points until Aquinas turned up the heat and went on a 6-0 scoring spree, with kills from Keller, Chioini, and a service ace from Hommes. The Cougars returned this run with their own set of five points to take a slim 10-9 lead. Later in the set, the Saints were able to go on another four-point run, followed soon after by a five-point run to expand their lead to 22-14. Lawson was able to close out this set with a kill for a 25-18 third-set victory. 

While the Cougars recorded the first point in the final set, Aquinas came out swinging and put down two kills by Chioini and a service ace from Schweihofer to push the score to 4-1. Teachworth and Lee had some big blocks to help continue to stretch the AQ lead. The Saints were able to prevent the Cougars from going on any runs this set. Aquinas turned on the burners in the final stretch of the set and was able to go on a five-point run with kills from Harper and Teachworth. The Saints claimed their victory when Teachworth and Keller were able to execute their attacks, leaving the final score at 25-15. 

By the numbers 

• Harper is currently leading the NAIA in assists per set (11.86).
• Keller is leading the NAIA in kills per set after an incredible start to the season, averaging 5.57 kills.
• Aquinas was able to record an outstanding .545 team hitting percentage in the first set and finished the match with a .364 hitting percentage.
• Teachworth and Lawson were able to put up a .500% hitting average.
• AQ had three Saints all record double-digit kills as Keller (20), Teachworth (12), and Chioini (11) had a tremendous amount of success. This is the first time this season that Teachworth and Chioini reached double-digit kills.
• The Saints improved to 5-2 against IU-Kokomo in their matchups since 2013. 

Up Next

The Saints have another day down in Fort Wayne with matches against (RV) Talladega and Grace College tomorrow (Aug. 24). AQ will face off against Talladega at 1:15 PM before batting against Grace at 5:30 PM.