Tuesday, October 6
Starting off their week, the Cougars faced-off against Cardinal Stritch University. This was a very competitive game as it saw the teams go to five close sets. Set one saw the Cougars take it behind senior Meghan Falsey’s dominate play. Falsey had five key kills that led the Cougars to a 25-20 set one victory.
With set two, Cardinal Stritch University came out ready to win by going on a 5-1 run to put them up 18-12. The Cougars didn’t quit though, as they went on a run of their own to bring the game as close as 24-22.
At the end of the day though, Cardinal Stritch showed the greater will to win as the pulled out the victory 25-22 to take set two and tie up the wins 1-1. Ready to avenge a loss, the Cougars came off hot getting a demanding lead early, 7-3.
But, it’s not always about how you start a game, but how you finish it. This lesson was learned by the Cougars who gave up a huge 6-0 run to Cardinal Smith. While the Cougars tried to regain their composure, it was too late as CSU took the set 25-22 and went up in the game 2-1.
Set four was the most competitive of the sets as CSU and SXU went back and forth the whole game. The Cougars wouldn’t choke this time as they went on to win the set 25-22 behind the clutch play of Meghan Falsey who achieved a career high in kills (1002) behind her 18 kills this game.
It all comes down to this. Set five. One team has to go home knowing that they lost, while another can carry the pride and happiness of being a winner. It all comes to who wants it more at this point, and the Cougars proved that they wanted to win more than they wanted to lose.
From the start, the Cougars go on a huge 10-1 run to put them up 3-10. The Cougars would prove to be as hotas Chef Curry in Game 6 as they beat CSU 11-15 to win the game against them going up 3 sets to CSU’s 2. Congrats SXU.
October 9-10
From Friday October 9 to Saturday October 10t the Cougars competed in the Davenport University Panther invite two day tournament. One would think that the Cougars would capitalize off the momentum from their victory vs. CSU, but the Cougars struggled in this Tourney going 1-5.
The first matchup saw SXU go against Lewis-Clarke State in three sets. The beginning of the game was extremely competitive as the two teams were tied at 15-15. Then, LCS showed the killer instinct as they went on a ridiculous 10-1 run to win the game 25-19.
Set two was just as close as set one as this one went down to the wire. As usual, the Cougars were led by Meghan Falsey who was simply killing it (pun intended) out there for SXU. Her efforts, and the teams efforts would prove to go unrewarded as LCS went on to win set two 25-22 going up in the series 2-0.
Not wanting to lose their third straight set, the Cougars played in a hard fought game to keep the series alive. This set really went down to the wire as the two teams were tied up 25-25. Even though the Cougars played their hardest, LCS proved to be unstoppable as they won the game 27-25 and the series 3-0.
Moving on to their next opponent, the Cougars faced off against Grand View University. This matchup proved to be more competitive for the Cougars as it went to five sets. The first set saw GVU take a 1-0 lead vs. SXU behind a 25-18 set victory.
In the second set, the cougars were finally able to obtain their first set victory of the tournament behind a 25-22 victory, tying the series at 1-1. Capitalizing off the momentum from their last set victory, the Cougars came back and won another set to go back to back in the series to go up 2-1 with a 25-22 win.
Fearing another loss, GVU came out strong in the fourth set winning it 25-22, and tying up the series 2-2. The illustrious game five looms over both teams heads. Both teams know that this is the game that separates them from taking home the win in the series.
Who will ultimately prevail? Sadly, not SXU as GVU showed up and showed out winning the fifth set 15-11, and the series 3 games to two. With another defeat weighing over their heads, will SXU be better prepared for competition on day 2?
The Cougars start off their second day going against Carroll College. Carroll College would prove to be a tough opponent for the Cougars as they started off the first set with a commanding 11-1 run. This dominance would persist as they took the first set 18-25.
Moving on to the second set, Carroll College would continue to assert their dominance against SXU winning the set with a dominant score of 25-16 leading the series 2-0. Would the Cougars answer their last two defeats with a much needed win? No.
Instead, Carroll College ended the set and the series the only way they knew how, a blowout. Carroll College ended up beating SXU 25-9 and winning the series vs the Cougars 3-0. Losing three of all three of their last games, would the Cougars be able to at least be able to obtain one victory in the tournament?
Met with their next and final opponent, Aquinas College, the Cougars look to go out with one last hurrah right before the tournament ends. The Cougars come out early with a 3-0 run. Aquinas College quickly counteracted this with a run of their own.
Eager to not let this game slip from their fingertips, the Cougars toughened up, but ended up losing 25-21. Set two saw a vastly different story as the Cougars came out with a hot start and never let up.
They took owned set two with a score of 15-25 and tied the 1-1. Set three came to be nearly the same outcome as set two. The cougars got off to a hot start that Aquinas College slowed down at the end, but ultimately, the Cougars took set three with a score of 25-18 taking a series lead of 2-1.
Eager to not lose the series, Aquinas did all they could to prevent a loss. The game was highly competitive, and saw both teams compete to the very end, but Aquinas showed that they would not lose that easily as they won the series 25-22.
Set five and the realization that this could be the last chance of winning a series at the tournament for the Cougars. The set was very close knit, but the clutch kill by senior Meghan Falsey sealed the deal as the Cougars Volleyball team finished off with a tournament record of 1 win 3 losses.
Come support the Girls Volleyball team at their next game against Saint Ambrose University this coming Tuesday, October 13. Unfortunately, results will not be available at the time of print. The women are going to have an action-packed week.
On Thursday, they will be taking on the Governor State University Jaguars at home. The game begins at 7:00 pm. We will have all the updates you need in next week’s edition of The Xavierite. Keep on reading.
Kenneth Washington
Sports Editor
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