Connie LeBel attempts a kill SXU Athletics
The SXU women’s volleyball team lost a hard fought game versus St. Francis (IL) on Tuesday the 17. It was the team’s third straight loss and third straight loss in CCAC matchups. Following the Tuesday game against Indiana University at South Bend, the Cougars’ record stands at 10-13.
Because of recent contests, Saint Xavier has fallen out of second place in CCAC standings, now tied for third with Olivet Nazarene University.
As of publication, Judson leads the CCAC with an 11-0 record, St. Francis and St. Ambrose is behind them at 7-4, and SXU and ONU both stand at 7-5.
After a tough weekend in Creve Coeur, MO. at the Missouri Baptist Tournament, the Cougars looked to get back in the win column to get closer to a .500 record.
Junior outside hitter Connie LeBel and junior setter Kaleight Ritter both recorded double doubles in the match.
LeBel recorded a team high of 16 kills. She also tallied 13 digs and five of the eight SXU service aces. Ritter dished out a team high of 44 assists, as well as 17 digs, five kills, a service ace, and a block.
Junior opposite hitter Abby Gentile finished with a statline of 12 kills, five assists, and two blocks. This was the third game in her last four that she recorded 10 or more kills.
The first set was a battle from start to finish. The Fighting Saints took an early 1-6 lead, but when the Cougars came out of a timeout, they scored six straight points to take a 7-6 lead.
Set one was back and forth from this point forward, neither team ever holding enough momentum to build and hold a large lead. St. Francis had a 23-21 lead late, but Saint Xavier fought back to take the first set 25-23.
St. Francis was more dominant in the second set of the match, winning 18-25. They had three different leads of seven points, including the final score from the set.
Tied 1-1, the third set carried a lot of weight in the match. SXU started the set strong, holding a 9-5 lead, but the Fighting Saints battled back to take a 9-11 lead.
Like many of the Cougars’ games this season, there was a lot of back and forth play, this time with SFU pulling away at the end of the set with a 20-24 lead, eventually closing out the set with a 22-25 victory.
The Cougars had their backs against the wall in the fourth set, needing a win to force a fifth and final set.
Neither team ever pulled away with a commanding lead in the fourth set, there were 10 lead changes and nine ties in the fourth set.
St. Francis pulled within one point of the Cougars late to make the score 20-21 but Saint Xavier rallied for four straight points, winning 25-21 and forcing a fifth set.
Naturally, the fifth set began with back and forth scoring. The Fighting Saints took a 1-3 lead but the Cougars answered back by taking a 4-3 lead.
Scoring continued to flip flop with neither team letting up but also neither being able to control their leads.
St. Francis took a 9-10 lead and head coach Bob Heersema took a timeout, wanting to regroup with his players. Coming out of the timeout, the Cougars tied the match at 10 a piece from a LeBel kill, hoping for a momentum shift.
But the Fighting Saints answered back even stronger, scoring four straight points, two of them attack errors by SXU, to take a 10-14 lead and forcing another Saint Xavier timeout.
SXU scored right out of the timeout yet again, but just like the last time, SFU answered back with a kill to defeat the defending CCAC champions 11-15 over five sets.
Alternating scoring has been the ongoing story of the Cougars’ play this season. Despite being 5-2 in matches that go to five sets, including four reverse sweeps, the team’s overall record does not reflect how close some of these matches have been from start to finish.
This will be the first losing season for the women’s program since 2019, when they finished with a record of 12-22. The last sub .500 season the Cougars had prior to 2019 was a decade earlier when the 2009 team finished 19-22 and 6-4.
Needless to say, losing seasons are not something this program or its fans are accustomed to.
With just two games left in the season, both being CCAC opponents, it is imperative for Saint Xavier to win both of these games before the CCAC tournament quarterfinals begin on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
The Cougars’ next and final home game of the season is Thursday, Oct. 26 against Governors State University at 7pm. This game also marks the team’s ‘Senior Night’.