This week, the SXU Women’s Volleyball team traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan to participate in the Cornerstone Classic at Cornerstone University. The Cougars entered the tournament with a 7-12 record.
Saint Xavier started the tournament by playing the Bethel Pilots on October 11th. The Pilots entered the game with an 8-16 record. The first set started off with Bethel jumping out a big 11-2 lead. However, the Cougars fought back and managed to cut the Bethel lead to just four points.
Bethel pulled away and eventually won the first set 25-18. The second set was a very back and forth affair, with both teams trading leads. Eventually, the set was all tied up at 26. In the end, it was the Pilots who won the set thanks to a great service ace and a clutch kill.
The third set started off almost exactly like the first one, but this time it was the Cougars who pulled out a win, a 25-19 win to be exact. In the fourth and final set, both teams played hard and fast, but Bethel always kept a small lead and eventually won 25-21. With the win, Bethel improved to 9-16, while the Cougars fell to 7-13 with the loss.
The Cougars got back to work a little under two hours later when they played the Carroll Fighting Saints. The Fighting Saints entered the game with an 8-8 record. The first set started off with both teams neck & neck with each other. Neither team pulled ahead until SXU middle hitter Nadia Atton pulled out two clutch kills to give SXU a 29-27 win.
The second set was close, but the Fighting Saints always kept a small lead, and eventually won 25-18. The third set was not even close, as Carroll University completely dominated the Cougars, eventually winning 25-16.
The fourth and final set was a near repeat of the third one, as the Fighting Saints completely shut down the Cougars and won the set, along with the game, 25-17. The Cougars fell to 7-14 with the loss, while the Fighting Saints improved to 9-8 with the win.
The Cougars ended their tournament run on Saturday, October 12th when they played the 18th best team in the country, the Rocky Mountain Battlin’ Bears. The Battlin’ Bears entered this game with a 14-7 record. Saint Xavier barely stood a chance in the first set, as the Battlin’ Bears completely shut them down, and eventually won 25-10. The second set was a bit closer, but Rocky Mountain College still won relatively easily, by a score of 25-19.
The third and final set was very close, with both teams tied up at 21 going into the final stretch. However, four errors from SXU gave four points to the Battlin’ Bears furthermore giving them the win in the process. The Cougars fell to 7-15 with the loss, while Rocky Mountain improved to 15-7 with the win. Saint Xavier plays three times next week, first on Tuesday, October 15th against IU-South Bend. Then on Wednesday, October 16th against Purdue University Northwest, and finally on Friday, October 18th against Cardinal Stritch University.
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