On September 22, the Saint Xavier women’s volleyball team played against Judson University. The Cougars would win this game in four sets, but it was a hard fought game that the Cougars had to earn.
The game started out as a back and forth affair that saw Judson take an early 9-8 lead. The Cougars would respond though nine of the next 15 points to retake the lead at 18-14. However, Judson would come right back by scoring six of the next eight points to tie the game at 20.
From there, the set became one of will power and whichever team wanted it more would take it. Unfortunately, that team would not be the Cougars as they would get outscored 5-2 and lose the set 25-22 and find themselves down 1-0 in the game.
Determined to respond with a win in the second set, the Cougars would jump out to a 10-8 lead. This lead would not last long though as Judson would go on a 8-2 run to take the lead at 16-12. From that point though, the Cougars would take control of the game with a 12-3 run that gave them a 24-19 lead.
The late, dominant run would prove to be all that was needed to win the second set as the Cougars would take it by the score of 25-22 and tie the game at 1-1. Just like the previous set, the Cougars would once again jump out to an early lead when they went up 8-4.
Unlike last set though, Judson would not be able to come back from their deficit. With the Cougars up 14-10 in the pivotal third set, the Cougars would go on a massive 10-3 run to put them up 24-13.
Once again, a big run would give the Cougars another set win, this time by the score of 25-15. The third set win would also put the Cougars up 2-1 in the game with a chance to close their opponents out in the fourth set.
With a victory close to their grasp, the Cougars would not wait to go on a big run in this game, scoring 14 of the first 20 points to take an early 14-6 lead. Judson would come back though, going on a 5-1 run to close the gap to 15-11.
After some back and forth play, the Cougars, up 18-14, would score three straight points to extend their lead to 21-14. Once again though, Judson would answer back, going on another 5-1 run to cut their deficit to 22-19.
With victory so close they could almost taste it, the Cougars closed the deal by scoring three straight points to win the fourth set 25-19 and winning the game 3-1. Middle blocker Heidi Gregerson and right side Meghan Falsey were the offensive forces of this game as both women totaled 16 kills to lead the offensive attack.
Setter Courtney Joyce continued her stretch of dominant performances in this one, totaling 44 assists, 10 digs, and five kills. Outside hitter Sydney McPhillips was a defensive stalwart in this game as well as an offensive contributor as she totaled eight kills and a team high 16 digs.
The team would have plenty of momentum going into their game on Thursday against another conference foe. On Thursday, September 24, the St. Xavier women’s volleyball team played against Trinity International University in a conference home game.
The Cougars were able to sweep their opponents to cap off a perfect week for them. Coming off their big win earlier in the week, the Cougars would come on fire, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the game to take a 9-2 lead in the first set.
After some back and forth play that saw the Cougars lead 11-5, TIU would go on a 5-1 run to cut their deficit to 12-10. But that would be as close as they would get as the Cougars would pound their opposition with a barrage of offense that saw them go on a 13-4 run to win the first set 25-14.
Just like in the first set, the Cougars would once again jump out a big early lead, this time by the score of 10-4. And once again, TIU would fight back, going on a 7-3 run to cut their deficit to 13-11. The Cougars would answer this run with a bigger run of their own, scoring 10 of the next 13 points to extend their lead to 23-14.
TIU would show resiliency by cutting their deficit to 24-18, but a kill by Sara Wellbaum would give the Cougars a 25-18 set win and a commanding 2-0 game lead. The beginning of the third and potentially final set of the game saw competitive action that was not seen throughout most of the first two sets.
At the start, it seemed like whenever the Cougars would attempt to break the set open, TIU would come back to keep the set within their reach. However that all changed when the score was 13-12 in favor of St. Xavier.
At that point, the Cougars put together a all but game clinching 9-2 run to put the Cougars up 22-14. From there, both teams would trade points the rest of the way until the Cougars won the set by the score of 25-18 and swept TIU in the game 3-0.
Middle blocker Heidi Gregerson would lead the charge for the Cougars, totaling 14 kills, four total blocks, and two aces. Setter Courtney Joyce also had a great game with 34 assists and 10 digs.
Libero Shauna Meagher led the way defensively with 12 digs.
With the 2-0 week, the Cougars record now sits at 8-5 with a conference record of 3-1. The Cougars will look to continue their winning ways against conference foe Robert Morris University on September 29 at home.
Unfortunately, scores from this game will not be available when The Xavierite goes to print. However, you can consult sxucougars.com if you would like to keep up on the scores that we were not able to print.
The Cougars will also be participating in the CCAC Crossover Tournament in Whiting, Indiana. Our very own Cougars will be taking on such teams as Purdue University Calumet, Olivet Nazarene University, Calument College of Saint Joseph and Trinity Christian College.
The tournament will last from October 2-3.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor