LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Current NAIA No. 18-ranked Viterbo University (Wis.) hit .330 and produced 41 kills as the V-Hawks earned a 3-0 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference sweep (25-18, 25-10, 25-15) over the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team Tuesday evening at R.W. Beggs Senior Gymnasium in La Crosse, Wis. The loss dropped the Fighting Saints to 7-10 on the season, and 5-4 in league play.
Delani Kirstein collected six kills in the match, while
Emma Rodriguez led the team with a .444 attack percentage.
Ann Simon,
Mya Broadway and
Landry Hall each authored a team-high six digs apiece, while Hall registered 17 assists.
The two teams found themselves in a back-and-forth battle in the first frame as Viterbo (18-5, 7-0 CCAC) held a slight three-point advantage (10-7) at the start. The hosts would win the race to 15, however, by securing the next five points, but it was from there that the Saints began to fight back, authoring a 7-5 run to close the gap to six points at 20-14. The effort proved to come a little late as a momentum shifting block from the hosts, followed by four kills allowed the V-Hawks to close out the set and win 25-18.
St. Francis wasted no time in taking a quick 2-0 lead to start Set 2. Viterbo was able to rally back thanks to a string of USF errors to overtake the lead at 9-6, but that would be as close as the match would get with the V-Hawks keeping their composure and producing a massive 16-4 scoring run en route to their 25-10 victory.
In the final set, USF overpowered the hosts at the net from the start, authoring two kills from Rodriguez and a block in jumping out to a 3-0 lead. The V-Hawks quickly tied the score after the next three rallies and went on to score eight more points off six kills and two blocks in helping to widen their lead to eight points at 15-7 before three straight kills from Rodriguez brought the Saints back to within five points. Viterbo's front line then proved to be too much for the Saints as a disastrous 10-5 scoring explosion fueled by eight V-Hawk kills completely dismantled St. Francis' momentum and closed out the match with a 25-15 Set 3 USF loss.
Up Next
St. Francis will return home on Thursday (Thurs. 8) for a CCAC matchup with Indiana University South Bend at 7 pm in the Pat Sullivan Center.
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