Volleyball drops matchup against Indiana Tech on Friday

(Fort Wayne, IN) - The Rochester Christian women's volleyball team began the final week of the regular season, traveling down to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to face off against the Warriors of Indiana Tech. All three matches on the night were tight as the largest set win was by three points, with the first two going to extra points. In the end, RCU falls to 19--11 overall and 12-7 in WHAC play, while IIT improves to 20-11 overall and 13-6 in conference play. 

A back-and-forth first set of the evening saw Mackenzie Keefer earn the first kill for RCU. The two teams continued to battle their way to a 10-10 tie before IIT scored four straight. Rochester Christian would slowly crawl their way back into the match scoring three straight points from Chante Hudgins, and Alivia Everitt to force a IIT timeout. Following the timeout, RCU would continue their streak scoring four more to round out a 7-0 run. IIT would score four straight before the teamswould keep trading points until Indian Tech scored the final two. 

Hailee Mancogna got the first kill of the second set for RCU, as they looked to even the match. Indiana Tech's four-point string early in the set was the longest run by either team. Madelyn Geisenhaver nabbed a couple of kills early on and RCU would get a kill from Kendal Zeiter and an ace from Hannah Maynard to bring the Warriors down 1, 12-13. Indiana Tech built out their lead to 20-17, before a RCU timeout. Coming out of the timeout Mackenzie Keefer and Zeiter earned a couple of kills to once again bring the Warriors to within one point. RCU held a 24-23 lead, after a Allison Scott service ace, but Indiana Tech grabbed the final three points. 

Rochester Christian came out strong in the third set, scoring nine of the first 14 points. IIT though would slowly crawl back into the set with a 13-13 tie. RCU continued to put pressure on Indiana Tech scoring seven of 10 points for a 22-19 lead, but Indiana Tech rallied, scoring the final six points of the match. 

TOP PERFORMANCES

The Warriors offense was headed by Hailee Mancogna and Alivia Everitt each with double-digit kills, tallying 13 and 10, respectively. Mackenzie Keefer recorded assists on 34 of the team's kills. 

The defensive backline was headed by Ashley Horne, who tallied 20 digs, with Madelyn Geisenhaver, Mackenzie Keefer, and Hannah Maynard all following suit recording at least 10 digs. They dug out 16, 14, and 11 attacks, respectively. Alivia Everitt tallied four blocks, while Chante Hudgins scored three. 

UP NEXT

The Warriors will be back in action on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Lima, Ohio, to close out the regular season against the Racers of Northwestern Ohio with a 3 PM start. 

WHAC STANDINGS