Upland, Ind. - The Huntington University women's volleyball team returned to Upland Saturday to take on Saint Xavier and Concordia on the final day of the Amber McClure Fayerweather Memorial Tourney hosted by Taylor University. After winning two matches Friday night, the Foresters were back on the court Saturday afternoon in the final tune up before conference play.
The opening match with Saint Xavier was HU's third five set match since Wednesday. This match did not have the same outcome as the last two as the Cougars came out on top of a hard-fought battle.
With the Cougars leading 24-19 in the first set, the Forester offense put up three straight points before Abby Gentile of the Cougars put an end to the HU rally. The second set included 12 ties and 12 lead changes before a Trevyn Terry kill secured the 29-27 set win. Saint Xavier took the third set by a score of 25-17 before Huntington dominated the fourth set 25-10. A Leah Carter kill and two kills from Lauren Ross gave HU a commanding 11-6 lead in the rubber match but the Cougars scratched and clawed their back to tie it up at 11. The two teams traded points before a service ace from the Cougars' Samantha Hovey sealed the win for Saint Xavier (2-5).
"Saint Xavier played fantastic defense," noted Coach Kelsey Herber. "It's hard to lose in a fifth set by two."
Haley Kruse tallied 17 kills while Kortney Grimm connected for 15. Lauren Ross dished out 55 assists while contributing seven kills. Nigella Reck came off the bench and served up three aces to help spark the HU offense.
The Foresters were able to quickly turn the page on a tough loss by sweeping the Cardinals of Concordia University (25-16, 25-14, 25-17).
"I was proud of how we responded," Herber noted. "Losing does not have to become failure. We allowed that adversity in the first match to grow us, and it was fun to end an exciting tournament weekend with a sweep."
Grimm led the HU offense with 15 kills, while three Forester hitters (Kruse, Terry, and Carter) each connected for nine kills apiece. The Forester defense controlled the net as Concordia (4-4) was held to a .056 kill percentage compared to Huntington's .278.
The Foresters (7-3) open up Crossroads League play on Wednesday as they travel to Fort Wayne to take on the University of Saint Francis. The first serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Hutzell Athletic Center.
The Huntington University Foresters compete in 18 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 160 NAIA All-America honors and 567 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.
