The women’s volleyball team took on teams from Central Michigan University, the University of Toledo and Marquette University during the Marquette Invitational over the weekend in Milwaukee.
The Jays fell in five games to Toledo Friday afternoon. After going down in games one and two, the Jays fought to get to a fifth game. During the deciding game, neither team could take much of an advantage. Toledo held the biggest lead with two points, and that came at the end of the game.
The Jays ultimately fell 13-15 and have fallen to 0-2 in five-set matches this year, the first coming last week against the University of Iowa. The Jays were paced offensively by senior outside hitter Alicia Runge’s 22 kills and junior setter Megan Bober’s 41 assists.
Friday night, the Jays took down Jesuit rival Marquette in a 3-0 sweep. The Jays were sounder offensively from all areas.
“I thought we played one of the best matches of the year so far against Marquette Friday night,” head coach Kirsten Booth said. “The biggest thing coming out of the game was knowing that against both Marquette and Toledo, we were winning the big points.”
In the front row, Bober was able to add 37 assists while her two outside hitters, Runge and senior Allie Oelke, contributed to 28 of those 15 from Runge and 13 from Oelke. Oelke also added another 15 digs in the back row.
Defensively against the Golden Eagles, the Jays were led by junior defensive specialist Nayka Benitez’s 21 digs. Sophomore defensive specialist Brooke Boggs added 10 digs of her own along with two aces from the service line.
Booth has been more impressed with the defense this year, with the controlling of the back row by Benitez and Boggs, along with freshman Julianne Mandolfo.
“Looking back to last year in the back row, I felt there were holes,” Booth said. “This year we’re sounder with Nayka leading the way, while both Allie and Megan have been stepping up. Brooke has grown even further while Julianne does not play like she’s a freshman; she’s all over the place.”
Later in the day, the Jays ended their tournament with a 3-1 win over the Central Michigan Chippewas. In game one, the Jays rolled to a quick 25-17 win. In game two, it was back and forth until the end where the Chips were able to pull out a 22-25 win. Game three looked much like the previous game, back and forth, with 18 ties and six lead changes, with the Jays eventually coming out on top, 26-24.
Game four again saw the Jays pull out the close win, 25-23. Leading the way were Runge’s 18 kills. Junior middleblocker Laurel Sanford quietly led the Jays with seven blocks and five kills while junior rightside hitter Karisa Almgren added nine kills of her own. Bober had 37 assists for the second straight match.
The tournament ended Sunday afternoon, with the Wisconsin Badgers taking first overall and the Jays coming in second, bringing their overall record to 5-5. The Jays again placed Runge and Bober on the All-Tournament team for the second straight weekend.
The Jays open Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend against Southern Illinois University and the University of Evansville.