Grand Rapids, Mich. – No. 12 Aquinas kept right on rolling Friday night, sweeping Olivet Nazarene and No. 23 Cumberland on the opening day of the AQ/CU Invite to improve to 12-1 on the season. The Saints showed again they can win in more than one way, using a sharp offensive performance in the opener before completing the night by avenging last season's five-set loss to Cumberland in this same tournament. And just a few miles away, Cornerstone continues to play very good volleyball, setting the stage for what could be a couple of highly entertaining WHAC battles between the cross-town rivals later this fall.
No. 12 Aquinas 3, Olivet Nazarene 0
26-24, 25-20, 25-15
The opening set provided Aquinas with its biggest test of the match, but the Saints repeatedly found answers when Olivet Nazarene threatened to take control. After the Tigers scored the opening point,
Jayla Martin put AQ on the board before
Kate Schneider,
Kami Morse and
Olivia Dennis helped the Saints build an early 7-3 advantage.
Kaylyn Tuck,
Nevaeh Bakker,
Cece Pelak and
Natalie West all contributed kills as Aquinas maintained the upper hand through the middle stages, with Pelak and Schneider helping stretch the margin to 14-10. The Saints continued to spread the offense as Bakker struck twice and Pelak added another kill to push AQ in front, 20-16.
Olivet Nazarene refused to disappear, eventually erasing a 23-19 Aquinas lead and pulling even at 24-24, but Bakker delivered the go-ahead kill before Pelak finished the 26-24 victory.
The second set turned into another back-and-forth battle early, with neither side able to create much separation through the opening 10 points. Pelak and
Michelle Ramirez supplied early kills before West,
Sophie Munch and the AQ service game helped produce a 9-5 Saints advantage.
Olivet Nazarene answered with five consecutive points to briefly regain the lead, but Pelak stopped the run and helped Aquinas begin to swing the momentum back in its direction. With the score tied at 12, AQ rattled off three straight points and later used consecutive kills from Schneider and Bakker to move ahead, 18-15.
Schneider struck again before a Bakker-Ramirez block and a Dennis ace pushed the Saints to 21-16 and forced another Tigers timeout. Bakker then delivered two more kills down the stretch, while Martin put AQ on the doorstep of the set before the Saints finished off the 25-20 win.
Aquinas wasted little time taking command of the third, turning a 1-1 tie into a 9-2 advantage behind two Schneider kills, a Pelak ace, a Ramirez kill and a Morse service ace. Pelak and Bakker kept the pressure on from there, while Munch added an ace as the Saints stretched the advantage to 15-6. Schneider's kill made it 17-8 before a West ace and a Martin-Schneider block continued an Aquinas surge that effectively put the match out of reach.
Pelak paced a balanced Aquinas attack with 14 kills on a .407 hitting percentage, while Schneider finished with 10 kills and hit .421. Bakker was nearly untouchable offensively, putting away nine kills without an error on just 12 swings for a match-best .750 hitting percentage. Martin and Ramirez chipped in three kills apiece.
West directed the offense with 38 assists to go with seven digs and two aces, while Morse led the back row with 10 digs and Pelak added nine. Aquinas finished with 48 digs and 10 service aces while hitting .341 for the match and holding Olivet Nazarene to .105.
No. 12 Aquinas 3, No. 23 Cumberland 0
25-19, 27-25, 25-15
With last season's five-set loss to Cumberland in this same tournament providing a little extra backdrop, Aquinas wasted little time taking control of the rematch. Schneider helped ignite the Saints early before a Morse ace and Bakker-Ramirez block helped turn a 2-2 score into a 6-2 AQ advantage.
Dennis later stepped to the service line and helped the Saints stretch the margin to 11-3, firing an ace while West and Pelak supplied kills. Cumberland attempted to work its way back into the set, but AQ continued finding answers from different spots on the floor.
The Phoenix made a late push, but Aquinas never surrendered the advantage and closed out a 25-19 victory to move one set closer to avenging last season's loss.
The second set provided the defining test of the nightcap. Cumberland established the early advantage before Bakker, Schneider, Ramirez and Pelak helped Aquinas stay within striking distance.
Audrey Gil then provided a major spark from the service line, firing two aces during a three-point burst that turned a 12-11 deficit into a 14-12 Saints lead. West added another ace as AQ moved ahead, 17-14, but Cumberland answered with five consecutive points to grab a 19-17 advantage and force an Aquinas timeout.
Pelak stopped the run with a kill, and Schneider and Bakker helped the Saints stay close as the set tightened down the stretch. A Schneider kill pulled AQ within one at 21-20 before a West-Bakker block tied the set, and a Cumberland error put the Saints back in front.
Bakker followed with a kill for a 23-21 advantage, but the Phoenix responded once again to even the score at 23-23. A Cumberland service error handed AQ set point, only for the Phoenix to force extra points.
Bakker delivered again to make it 25-24 before Cumberland answered one final time. West then put Aquinas back in front with a kill, and the Saints completed the 27-25 comeback to take command of the match.
There would be considerably less drama in the third.
Aquinas scored six of the first nine points before Dennis' ace helped stretch the advantage to 9-4. Pelak later connected from West to make it 11-6, and another West ace pushed the margin to 13-7.
Schneider and Bakker continued making their presence felt at the net, while West, Pelak and Bakker supplied offense as the Saints steadily pulled away. Schneider's kill pushed the margin to 16-10 before a Schneider-Bakker block made it 17-10, and AQ never allowed Cumberland to mount another serious threat.
Pelak delivered three kills during the closing stretch and Martin supplied a block at set point as Aquinas put the finishing touches on a 25-15 victory and its second sweep of the evening.
West turned in an impressive all-around performance with five kills on 10 swings, 21 assists, four aces and nine digs. Schneider and Pelak shared the team lead with nine kills apiece, while Bakker added six kills and was involved in eight blocks.
Morse anchored the defense with a match-high 15 digs, Pelak added nine and
Brooke Price collected seven, while Dennis and Gil each delivered two service aces. The Saints finished with nine aces, two solo blocks and 14 block assists while holding Cumberland to a .101 hitting percentage.
Aquinas finished Friday at
12-1 overall and 1-0 in the WHAC, collecting six straight set victories while protecting Coach Bo Court. Perhaps just as important, the Saints showed they could win when everything wasn't clicking offensively, sweeping a nationally ranked Cumberland squad despite hitting just .135 in the nightcap.
Saints Snapshots
- Two Matches, Two Different Saints Victories: Aquinas rolled offensively at a .341 clip against Olivet Nazarene, then had to grind, defend and serve its way past No. 23 Cumberland. For a team with postseason aspirations, Friday offered two very different ways to win.
- A Little Revenge on Coach Bo Court: Cumberland took a five-set thriller from Aquinas in this tournament last season. One year later, the Saints didn't need a fourth set, answering that defeat with a sweep of the nationally ranked Phoenix.
- Depth Continues to Define AQ: Friday wasn't built around one player carrying the Saints. Schneider, Pelak and Bakker supplied plenty of offense, West affected nearly every phase of the match and AQ repeatedly received meaningful contributions from its bench and service rotation.
- Grand Rapids Volleyball Could Be Fun: Aquinas is 12-1 and ranked No. 12 in the country, while cross-town rival Cornerstone continues to put together some very good volleyball of its own. There is plenty of season to play, but the two eventual WHAC meetings are already becoming dates worth circling.
- Saturday's Main Event Awaits: The Saints don't have much time to enjoy Friday's work. After opening Saturday against UT Southern, AQ gets another national measuring stick when No. 15 Mount Vernon Nazarene steps onto Coach Bo Court for a Top-15 showdown.
Coach's Comments
Following day one of the AQ/CU Invite, head coach
Ryan Campbell spoke about the good, the areas that need improvement and the quick turnaround facing his 12th-ranked Saints.
"We saw two different kinds of matches tonight, and I think there are positives we can take from both of them," Campbell said. "There were stretches where we played the kind of volleyball we know we're capable of playing, and there were stretches where we made things harder on ourselves. The encouraging part is that we continued to compete and found ways to win. Now the challenge is recovering quickly, learning from tonight and coming back tomorrow ready to be better, because we know the level of competition is only going to go up."
Up Next
After a quick catnap, the Saints return to Coach Bo Court on Saturday for the second and third matches of the day. Aquinas will face UT Southern at
1 p.m., get a brief rest and then challenge
No. 15 Mount Vernon Nazarene at approximately
3 p.m., or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the previous match, in a contest with significant NAIA implications.
All three Saturday matches on Coach Bo Court will be streamed on the AQSaints Athletic Network with venue PA audio only.
The Aquinas-Mount Vernon Nazarene match will also serve as the Athletic Communications Department's first test of its new remote streaming option on the AQSaints YouTube Network.
Joey Sutherlin will have the call remotely from Wolf Lake in Baldwin, with the experimental stream expected to operate on approximately a two-minute delay.
Be sure to visit AQSaints.com for live statistics, streaming information and complete postgame coverage of Aquinas women's volleyball and all other Saints sports.
It's a great day to be a Saint.
