JOLIET, Ill. -- Olivet Nazarene University hit .320 and produced 48 kills as the Tigers earned a 3-0 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference sweep (25-21, 26-24, 25-13) over the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team Thursday evening at the Pat Sullivan Center.
The loss dropped the Fighting Saints to 4-7 on the season and 3-2 in CCAC play. Olivet Nazarene improved to 11-5 overall and 4-0 in league action.
Sarah Schmidt led the Saints with six kills, while
Alyssa Teske finished with five kills and posted a team-high .333 hitting percentage
. Landry Hall (13) and
Kennedy Walker (9) combined for 22 assists as USF hit .124 in the loss.Â
Maura Babuskow anchored the St. Francis defense with a team-high nine digs.
Set 1 began with the two teams squaring off at nine points apiece midway through the frame. A 4-0 scoring spurt from ONU would follow until kills from
Emma Rodriguez,
Olivia Cosgrove and
Delani Kirstein followed by back-to-back USF blocks allowed the Saints to knot the score at 21-21 down the stretch. USF's hopes of a win came up short, however, with the Tigers closing the set out with four straight points en route to the 25-21 victory.
The Saints were able to tie the score on five separate occasions within the first 10 rallies of Set 2 before Olivet went on a 13-6 run to take the lead at 18-11. Kills from
Aubrey Phillips, Schmidt and Teske, followed by a trio of service aces from Babuskow, and four blocks from the Saints' front line would aid USF into taking the lead at 24-22, but the Tigers would pull away late on a 4-0 run to close out the set.
The final stanza saw the Tigers zoom away to a 21-7 lead until two kills from Teske and one from Kirstein gave the Saints' a glimpse of hope. Olivet would retaliate with four kills of its own, however, to earn the sweep with the 25-13 victory.
Next Up
The Saints will return home tomorrow (Sept. 18), for a 7 pm non-conference contest against Moody Bible College.
You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.
