Courtney Hunter serves the ball SXU Athletics
The women’s volleyball team fell to Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, IL. on November 2 in five sets (19-25, 25-18, 25-23, 14-25, 11-15) to close out the 2023 regular season. The Cougars record before postseason play begins is 11-14 overall, 8-6 in conference.
Senior middle blocker Courtney Hunter led the Cougars’ in their efforts to take the season series against Olivet Nazarene.
Hunter recorded a career-high 21 kills in the game, just a week after she was honored on ‘Senior Night.’ Her statline also had six digs, four blocks, and two service aces.
Junior outside hitter Connie LeBel finished with a double-double, 21 kills and 11 digs, her seventh double-double of the season. This was the fifth time this season LeBel had 20 or more kills in a single match.
Junior setter Kaleigh Ritter dished out 40 or more assists, the sixth time she’s accomplished that this season. Additionally, she recorded her fourth straight double-double and eleventh of the season. Ritter finished with 44 assists, 15 digs, two assists, and one block.
Despite the strong performances from Hunter, LeBel, Ritter, and others- Saint Xavier could not rally in sets four or five to pull out with a win.
Saint Xavier only held one lead in the first set, when the score was 3-2. They kept the score close for the most part, but were playing catch-up for most of the set.
The closest they got to taking a lead were a couple of ties early on in the set (4-4 and 11-11).
The Cougars rebounded well in the second set, flipping the table on Olivet Nazarene and winning 25-18.
Much like many other sets Saint Xavier played this year, there was back-and-forth scoring between the two teams.
ONU held leads early, but SXU kept their heads in the game and eventually scored five straight points to take a 18-16 lead. The Cougars locked in at this point, only allowing Olivet Nazarene to score two more points in the match, scoring six straight to tie the sets at one.
To no one’s surprise, the third set contained more back and forth scoring between the CCAC opponents.
As the set moved along, ONU began to pull away, taking a 13-17 lead before SXU’s Head Coach Bob Heersema took a timeout to allow his players to regroup. And regroup they did, the Cougars came out of the timeout and scored six points to the Tigers’ one, taking a 19-18 lead.
Though the lead did not last long, SXU continued to fight and rally. Down 21-23, the Cougars stole away all the momentum, scoring four straight to take the set 25-23.
Regardless of the momentum Saint Xavier picked up in the third set, they could not carry it over set four to close out the match.
Olivet Nazarene completely dominated the Cougars in the fourth set. They forced an 11-11 tie and took an 11-14 lead. SXU tried to get back into the game, getting within two, but the Tigers scored seven in a row to take a commanding 12-21 lead, putting the game well out of reach.
Forcing a fifth set, only needing 15 points to win, Saint Xavier was going to need to clean it up quickly to walk away with a win.
ONU took an early 0-4 lead and the Cougars came out of a timeout and stayed in the game, but staying in the game is not enough to capture a win.
Olivet Nazarene never gave up their lead in set five, winning 11-15, sending the Cougars packing en route to Chicago.
It was a tough year for the women’s volleyball team from start to finish. Going from a 20-8 regular season record in 2022 to 11-1, it is hard to find a word other than ‘disappointing’ to define the year.
A large contributor to the season-long struggles were injuries that forced players into different positions. Junior libero Avanna Martinez was out all season with an injury, various players having to fill her spot throughout the season.
Injuries aside, day-to-day play was a stark difference from last season. Unforced errors and sloppy play in general kept Saint Xavier from winning sets and matches they should have.
Many times during the course of the season did we watch the Cougars lose control of sets and whole matches or narrowly escape with a win. To put it simply, the 2023 season for this team was uncharacteristic.
Saint Xavier’s women’s volleyball program is a notoriously dominant one, especially in the CCAC. To finish below .500 in the regular season twice in five years is a tough pill to swallow for the program and its fans.