The Saint Xavier University women’s volleyball had their brooms out this week and swept away their competition. The Cougars dominated their opponents this week winning both their matches in three sets.
The team started their domination on the road against Trinity International University. They took out the Trojans in three sets last Tuesday: 25-19, 25-15, 25-10.
The Cougars got an all around great performance from co-captain and junior setter Kelli Shaffer, who had 24 assists, five kills, 15 digs, and a service ace. Junior libero Dominique Aramburu also had 15 digs for the Cougars.
Sophomore Heidi Gregerson led the team offensively with nine kills and put up a solid defensive effort with six block assists. Sophomore right side hitter Meghan Falsey and junior outside hitter Jessica Galotta each chipped in seven kills for the Cougars.
The team improved to 3-1 on the road and got back to a .500 record with the win.
On Thursday night, the Cougars took on Robert Morris University looking for their first true home win of the season. Both teams had a great fan turnout for this CCAC match up.
The first game was close as both teams struggled with their serves, recording several service errors throughout the match. The ladies in white started to pull away and forced the Eagles to call a timeout when the Cougars made it 15-10.
The energetic Eagles tried to stay competitive but the Cougars were still pulling away and Robert Morris called another timeout at 22-15. It didn’t stop the Cougars’ momentum as they won the first game by ten.
The next game went back and forth more with a lot of entertaining rallies between the two teams. The Cougars were able to go up 19-15 at one point but had to call timeout when the Eagles tied it up at 19.
The team had a hard time stopping the Eagles momentum as Robert Morris went up 21-19 after a 6-0 run. The Cougars regrouped, though, to take the game 25-22 as two Robert Morris timeouts could not stop the inevitable victory.
The third game was all Cougars from the start. They busted out of the gate 7-1 and the Eagles had to call a timeout to gather themselves before the game got out of reach. Robert Morris remained tough and scrappy, but the Cougars started pulling away once again as Robert Morris called one last timeout down 11-19.
The Cougars were just the better team on this night as they won by nine. The team swept the match in three for the second time in two days winning: 25-16, 25-22, 25-16.
Falsey continues to look better this season after tearing her ACL at the end of last season as she had eight kills for the Cougars. Gregerson had a great match with five kills, five total blocks and a team best four service aces. Aramburu had another amazing defensive game with 19 digs on the night.
Shaffer continues to look like the team’s most valuable player finishing the match with 28 assists, 11 digs and four kills. The junior graphic design major from the “mean streets of Heyworth” has been sensational for the Cougars this season leading the team in assists with 349 assists
Junior middle hitter and the team’s other co-captain Marie Hackert chipped in seven kills and sophomore outside hitter Cassidy Sponsler pitched in six kills.
The Eagles’ attack was led by two sophomore hitters, Allyson Murray and Katie Rotkovich, who each had nine kills.
The SXU women’s volleyball team is clicking on all cylinders right now as the team has won four straight matches and improved to 7-6 on the year. It is the first time all season the team has been over .500. The team looks like they are getting used to playing with each other as they looked energized and excited to be playing volleyball on Thursday night.
Women’s Volleyball is starting to kick it into high gear as they continue to gel into a cohesive unit. The team is looking to get back to Nationals and to dominate conference play again.
The whole Saint Xavier community is welcome to come to the next home game on October 10 against Illinois Institute of Technology.
Damone Griffin
Copy Editor
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