Men’s Volleyball
The men competed in 2 games this week with one of which being competed against a strong conference rival, and another on the road.
Tuesday, Feb 14
Love was in the air, but unfortunately winning was not for the Cougars as they dropped the game to Cardinal Stretch University 3 sets (25-15, 25-20, 25-20 respectively) to none. The Cougars got outright embarrassed in the first set losing by a margin of 11, and simply never regained their momentum.
Despite the disappointing performance of the team, senior hitter Sean Barry and freshman Ben Gabor combined for 17 kills. Leading the Cougars.
Thursday, Feb 17
An away game against Illinois Institute of Technology sought to be no challenge for the Cougars as the won the game 3 sets (25-12, 25-13, 25-17 respectively) to none. This domination was led by senior hitter Dan O’Keefe as he accounted for 13 of the Cougars points with 5 kills and 17 assists.
The Cougars now stand at 3-6 overall and return to action this upcoming Thursday competing against Trinity Christian College.
Track and Field
The SXU track team competed in the Nazarene University CCAC Indoor Conference. The Tournament was contested over the course of two days, and saw SXU go toe-to-toe with conference rivals.
Women
At the end of the tournament, the women’s team finished 4th out of the 9 other teams. A great outing by the team that was carried by the individual performances of junior Ellie Willging, senior Nicole Watkins, and sophomore Alex Lambros.
Willging did more of the same. Took first in the 3K race, and broke a school race finishing the race with a time of 9:54.53. In the 1000-meter run, Watkins finished second overall finishing in the “A” rank of time with a finishing time of 2:59.59.
Sophomore Alex Lambros placed third in the triple jump, beating thee school record in the process with a 11.41m jump. All three women received NAIA honors for their incredible performances, and even more satisfactory leading their team to a 4th place finish.
Men
The men’s team placed 7th out of 10 total teams. This finish was thanks in part to the incredible performance of junior Abel Hernandez. Hernandez finished the 5000-meter run first overall with a time of 15:29.19, earning 10 points for his team with his performance.
The two teams return to action on March 31 as they compete in the WashU invite. For a recap of that event and many others keep it locked here at the Xavierite.
-Kenneth Washington
Deputy Sports Writer