GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – No. 7 Women's Volleyball traveled to Grand Rapids on Thursday, dropping a pair of road matches after a sweep at the hands of Cornerstone University in the afternoon and a four-set battle with No. 9 Aquinas College that evening. The split schedule marked a third straight loss for the Wildcats, who nonetheless pushed No. 9 Aquinas after stealing the opening set of their match.
THE ESSENTIALS
- Location: Grand Rapids, Mich. | Mol Arena | Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center
- Records: Indiana Wesleyan 14-7 overall, 7-2 CRL; Cornerstone (Mich.) 15-5; Aquinas (Mich.) 25-1
- NAIA Rankings: IWU - #7 | Cornerstone - Unranked | Aquinas - #9
CORNERSTONE (L, 0-3)
Set One
- Cornerstone jumped out to a 3-0 lead to open the match, but IWU answered immediately with a 4-0 run of its own with two kills from Shae Williams, an ace from Morgan Osborn and an Aubree Deshetsky kill to take a 4-3 edge.
- The Eagles responded with four straight points to reclaim the lead, 4-7, and later strung together another three-point burst to push ahead 10-14.
- IWU rallied late, scoring four in a row to tie the set at 16 and then three straight to lead 22-19, but Cornerstone closed the set on a 3-0 run to escape, 26-24.
Set Two
- IWU opened with a quick 3-0 run, but Cornerstone chipped away and eventually tied the set at 16 before breaking through with a 4-0 burst to go up 20-16.
- The Eagles finished the set on another 3-0 run, taking it 25-19.
Set Three
- Cornerstone pulled away for good in the finale, turning a 5-11 deficit into a 5-19 lead with an 8-0 run and closing the set with a 6-0 run to finish it off, 25-6. IWU shot -.269 as a team in the set.
AQUINAS (L, 1-3)
Set One
- Trailing 2-4 early, IWU ripped off three straight points to grab a 5-4 lead thanks to a kill by Mariana Van der aa.
- Aquinas answered to tie the set at 14 with a 4-0 run of its own, but the Wildcats took over in crunch time, scoring three straight points from 20-20 to seal the set, 25-23.
- Aubree Desthesky had 6 kills in the set.
Set Two
- Aquinas raced to a 5-0 lead out of the gate, but IWU answered with four straight to trim it to 4-5.
- The Bulldogs pulled away with a few 4-0 runs to make it 18-9.
- Aquinas closed out the set with a 5-0 burst to take control and win comfortably, 25-12.
Set Three
- The Wildcats held the lead early thanks to a 5-3 start to the set powered by Jaycee Folkers and Shae Williams kills.
- Aquinas answered with their own 3-0 run, then the sides traded scores deep into the set, the Wildcats leading 19-17.
- Using a late 6-0 run, the Bulldogs buoyed themselves to a set victory 25-21.
Set Four
- IWU built another 5-3 lead thanks to Shae Williams and Camaya Murry kills.
- Aquinas answered with multiple 3-0 runs of their own, taking control of the set 20-14.
- With all the momentum moving toward them, the Bulldogs topped Indiana Wesleyan in the final set using a 3-0 run to win 25-16.
KEY WILDCATS
vs. Cornerstone
vs. Aquinas
LOOKING AHEAD
- Indiana Wesleyan returns home Wednesday to host Spring Arbor University in a Crossroads League rematch. The Wildcats took the first meeting between the two teams, 3-1, on the road on Aug. 25 in their conference opener.
- Links for live stats and video are available at IWUWildcats.com.
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS
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