Welcome back SXU to the sports recap show for winners like me and like you. This week, we cover two sports both competing in some gritty tournament play.
Cross Country
Fri, September 16
Both the women and men’s teams competed in the National Catholic Championships hosted by the University of Notre Dame. This tournament would prove to be a test for both teams, as it featured some of the top teams in the nation.
Women
After moving up in the ranks from 21 to 16, the women’s cross country team had to start living up to the hype that they garnered by going up against some of the toughest teams in the nation. And living up the hype they did as the team placed 7th out of the 30 total teams that competed in the race. Junior Ellie Willging lead the Cougars as she placed 8th individually with a running time of 18:23.9. The team as a whole averaged a running time of 18:49. An overall great day for the Cougars.
Men
The men’s cross country team has been struggling as of late, and could really use this tournament to thrust themselves back into the winners’ circle. The team finished 19th out of 30 total teams. Junior Abel Hernandez finished with the best time as he ran in 26:47.1. As a team, the men averaged a running time of 29:31. Maybe it wasn’t the result they were looking for, but competing in a tournament filled with tough competition, finishing 19th out of 30 total teams is still pretty impressive.
In 3 more weeks both teams will be competing in the Bethel college invitational.
Volleyball
Fri, September 16- Sat, September 17
It’s Friday night which can mean only one thing, some Volleyball tournament play! And that’s what we got as the Cougars competed in the 2-day Holiday Inn Express Invite hosted by Nazarene University.
V.S. Grand View University
Their first game of the tournament, and SXU is matched up against the tough team of Grand View University. Both teams are equally matched so this one was destined to be a nail bitter from the jump.
Set 1
Set one was very back and forward, no team got a sizeable lead on the other which is no surprise as neither team was letting up. Both teams battle all the way too past the normal 25-point mark as it takes 2 points to win. Eventually SXU was able to take the game at 29-27, capitalizing from some costly service errors form GVU.
Set 2
Frustrated from the last set, GVU came out with a fury as they went up 20-10 early on. With a big lead like this, the Cougar’s hopes dwindle as GVU took the win with a dominating 25-13 score.
Set 3
This set saw a return to competitive play much of the same we saw in set 1. Both teams battled, but the size and athleticism of SXU’s front court was leading to some key kills that ended up helping them win the game, 25-27.
Set 4
GVU realizing that their back is against the wall, came out hot by taking a commanding 19-7 lead. SXU battled back by going on an 8-4 run, but they ultimately came up short as GVU won 25-17.
Set 4
With both teams tied at 2-2, this game will breed a winner at the 15-point mark. That winner turned out to be GVU. The Cougars really choked this one away as they were beaten 15-5. Despite the heartbreaking 3-2 loss, there was still more games to play, and more chances to obtain victory in this tournament.
V.S. Viterbo University
Their next and final matchup of day 1 of the tournament would be against Viterbo University, a team that’s currently ranked #5 so this will be no easy matchup for the Cougars.
Viterbo came out straight away and showed just why they’re ranked so high, as they beat SXU in the first game 25-18. This is a trend that continues in the next 2 sets as well as SXU was beaten in set 2 25-16, and set 3 25-16. Viterbo was so in line defensively that they didn’t even let SXU reach the 20 point scoring mark.
V.S. Columbia College
With 2 difficult losses in the tournament, SXU was looking to start their 2nd day off right with a win against Columbia College.
Unfortunately, Columbia had other plans as they won this matchup 3 sets to SXU’s 2.
After starting off the matchup hot with a set 1 victory, SXU started to fall apart defensively, and allowed Columbia to make some key plays that lead to their victory.
V.S. Campbellsville University
With this being their final game of the tournament, and having gone 3-0 so far you can be SXU was looking for the win to reassure them of any lost confidence as a result of the losses.
Win they did as SXU was finally able to get a tournament as they beat CAMP 3 sets to 2.
Sophomore Rory Manion was the key player in the win as she had 19 kills in the 5 sets. Overall, she had a good day as she finished with 37 total kills in the two games hosted on Saturday.
While they may have not obtained all the success they were looking for in this tournament, they went out and won their last game which was important because it restored the confidence they may have lost in the 3 losses.
SXU volleyball host Trinity University this coming Tuesday and Judson University on Wednesday.
Join me back here on Friday for a recap of that game, and many other exciting ones that take place this week.
Kenneth Washington
Sports Editor