Volleyball Team Suffers First Loss in Tournament Play
It was a long week for the Cougars as they had to compete in 4 games over the course of 5 days. As grueling a schedule it was for them, this was sure to test them and their illustrious 15 game winning streak.
Tuesday, October 24 vs. Purdue
The Cougars started off their week competing in an away game against the 6-20 Purdue Northwest. Given their score, it was easy to infer that the Cougars would have no problem taking this team down, but the final score says much differently.
Surprisingly, Purdue Northwest was able to walk away winning the first set with a score of 25 to Saint Xavier’s 21. The Cougars were struggling to stop Purdue from scoring near the net, as Purdue was racking up the kills left and right. The two teams were going back and forth from the beginning to the end, but Purdue was the team that pulled out all the stops to take this set in the closing moments of play.
Set 2 was much of the same story, except this time Saint Xavier was able to come away with the victory and even this matchup at a set apiece. This set victory can be attributed much to Kate Bontager’s strong play, as she racked up 7 kills in this set alone.
Set 3 was the closet of the matchup as the two teams went to the very end and then some. In the end, Purdue stole another close one with a score of 26-24. Once again Saint Xavier was unable to defend against Purdue middles as they were eating them up with the kills. With this, Purdue leads the matchup 2 sets to 1.
Set 4 Saw SXU have a comeback game as they took this set with a score of 25-18. Saint Xavier went on a plethora of runs that really put them over the edge on this one.
Set 5 turned out to be the final set as Saint Xavier was able to close it out 15 points to 13. Purdue was trying their hardest to force a game 7, but Saint Xavier showed their winning pedigree closing this one out. Senior Kate Bontrager showed out in this one with 20 kills and 12 digs.
Friday, October 27-Saturday, October 28 CCAC Crossover Tournament
Continuing with their long week, the Cougars looked to compete in the 2-day Crossover tournament. To start it off, they competed against Governors State University. Saint Xavier walked out of this one with a 3-0 set victory (scores of 25-15, 25-12, 25-7 respectively) that set their legendary winning streak to 16 games. SXU was simply dominating on their way to 16 straight as they were being led by the amazing play of Bridget Krasowski, who obtained 11 kills, while junior Mariana Ayala racked up 11 digs.
Second game of the tournament was a tough one for the Cougars to swallow as it saw the end of their coveted win streak as Trinity Christian beat Saint Xavier in their final matchup of day 2 by winning 3 sets to 2 (with scores of 14-25, 17-25, 25-19, 25-17, and 15-5). This loss was even more demoralizing due to the fact that SXU went up 2 sets to 0 and only needed 1 more to take the victory, but congrats go in order to Trinity Christian as I couldn’t imagine the level of difficulty it takes to win 3 straight games against a former 16 game winning streak team. Although they lost, Kate Bontrager still came out to play as she rallied 16 kills, while Courtney Joyce racked up 18 digs. Despite the tough loss, the team was still able to make history with their 16-game winning streak.
On the second day of the tournament, the Cougars went up against Olivet Nazarene University in their final game of the tournament. The Cougars took the game 3 sets to 0 (with scores of 25-13, 25-14, 25-13). SXU wasn’t playing around after losing their winning streak as they came out and dismantled their opponents. Kate Bontrager and juniors Helena Atton and Rory Manion led the way for the Cougars as they each tallied up 11 kills. Courtney Joyce got her team involved in this one once again with 38 assists.
Despite the heartbreaking loss of their winning streak, the Cougars have nothing to be ashamed of as they have matched up and defeated some tough teams. All-in-all, it’s more than the streak for the Cougars. It’s about the experience gained for this team.
In the end, the Cougars were able to pull out a victory beating Purdue 3 sets to 2. The Cougars really struggled in this game. Their offense was rolling as usual, but they looked a step slower when it came to the defensive side of things.
The Cougars return to action this upcoming Tuesday for Senior night against Cardinal Stitch. For a recap of that game and many others keep it locked here at the Xavierite.
Kenneth Washington
Sports Reporter