Setter Kaleigh Ritter serving. (Saint Xavier University Athletics)
The Cougars and Jaguars met last Tuesday in an important conference match. The Cougars were undefeated in conference and were coming into the match with an overall record of 4-5. The Jaguars were coming into the match with the same record as the Cougars overall but 0-1 in conference.
This game was an important one for the Jaguars, falling to 0-2 in conference could hurt their future playoff hopes. As for the Cougars, getting the win and improving to 2-0 would greatly improve their playoff aspirations.
The Cougars came out the gate hot with outside hitter Connie Lebel going on a 4-0 service run. They easily hit 10 points before the Jaguars as they made less errors throughout the set. In just the first 13 points of the match, the Jaguars made eight errors, two of them coming from behind the service line.
The Jaguars early set struggles continued throughout the rest of the set. They hit an unimpressive .077% on 26 total attempts. While the Cougars hit a solid .269% on the same amount of attempts.
The Jaguars did not serve too poorly, missing only two of their serves in the first set. Despite their serves being consistent, they were not aggressive enough as the Jaguars came away with only one ace. The Cougars were just as efficient behind the service line by missing two serves. Although, the Cougars were able to get four more aces than the Jaguars in the first set. With all the mistakes the Jaguars made, they were not able to compete and lost the first set 25-15.
The second set of the match was a much closer battle. The Jaguars took their first lead of the match going up 9-8 early on. Sadly for the Jaguars, they would not lead again for the rest of the set. Shockingly the Jaguars hit at
an even lower efficiency than the first set hitting .043%. The Cougars also hit worse with a .167% efficiency throughout the second set.
Obviously the stats don’t tell the whole story, this was an extremely close match until the Cougars got to twenty points. For most of the second set, the two teams kept going back and forth, the biggest separation being only five points. Until the end of the game, when the Cougars finally pulled away and won 25-20.
In the third set, it seemed like the Jaguars finally came to play, hitting at an impressive .286%. The Cougars on the other hand played way worse hitting only .129%. The Cougars also served horribly missing seven total serves, which is more than they missed in the first two sets combined.
Star right side hitter Abby Gentile went down halfway through the second set with an apparent leg injury. This seriously hurt the Cougars as Gentile was one of their main attacking options. The Cougars ended up dropping the set 25-19.
Once the fourth set rolled around, the Cougars were ready and came out with an outstanding start that remained throughout the whole set. At one point, they had an eight point lead, this set never really seemed close.
The Jaguars played a horrible game hitting the worst percentage of the night .028%. Unfortunately right side Delaney Davis went down with an injury halfway through the fourth set. Despite the injuries, the Cougars were still able to win this match with the final score being 25-18.
The hero for the Cougars in this game was Lebel. She played an incredible game dropping 15 kills on an impressive .222%, besting all hitters this match. Not only did she hit well, she also had 20 digs, which was a season high for her. Those 20 digs made this game her fifth double double on the season.
Courtney Hunter also had a great game with 12 kills and hit .333%. She had the second most kills of the match and also added two blocks. The two setters, Kaleigh Ritter and Samantha Hovey had 44 assists combined. Ritter added three aces while Hovey had 11 digs. This gave Hovey her fourth double double of the season.
Beating the Jaguars made the Cougars 2-0 in conference and boosted their record to an even 5-5. Unfortunately for the Jaguars, they fall to 4-6 and 0-2 in conference. The Cougars extend their win streak to five in a row and are looking great.