Women’s volleyball team splits two matches at Scarlet Hawk Invitational

CHICAGO, Ill. – The Olivet College volleyball team split two two matches this afternoon at the Scarlet Hawk Invitational, hosted by Illinois Tech and inside the Keating Sports Center in Chicago. The Comets started the day with a five-set loss to North Park (Ill.) University before bouncing back to sweep University of Cincinnati-Clermont (Ohio) in three sets.

THE BASICS
Final Score: North Park def. Olivet 24-26, 15-25, 25-21, 25-13, 15-12
Location: Keating Sports Center; Chicago, Ill.
Records: Olivet 4-13 overall, North Park 8-5 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the first set, the Comets held a three-point lead, 7-4. The Vikings came back to tie the set at 7-7 and 8-8. Olivet scored the next point on a kill by freshman Laken Groll. The Comets stretched their lead to five points, 17-12, before the Vikings went on a 4-0 run to close the gap to a single point, 17-16. Olivet led by three points two more times, with the last time being 24-21. North Park scored three consecutive points to level the score at 24-24. The Comets scored the last two points on kills by senior Courtney Cronkright and sophomore Morgan Champion.
• Olivet took a 3-0 lead in the second set and never looked back. The 10-point margin at the end of the set was the Comets' largest lead.
• The Vikings led 4-0 to start the third set. They eventually led by as many as eight points, 16-8. The Comets battled back to trim their deficit down to two points twice, 21-19 and 23-21. A service ace and kill ended the set in favor of North Park.
• The Comets' only leads in the fourth set were 1-0 and 2-1.
• In the fifth set, the Vikings had a 3-1 advantage. Olivet responded with a 4-0 run to go up 5-3. North Park answered with its own 4-0 run to take the lead back 7-5. The Vikings pushed their lead back to three points on two more occasions, 9-6 and 12-9. The Comets closed the gap to one point twice, 12-11 and 13-12. Two North Park kills brought the set and match to a close.

FOR THE COMETS

• Olivet finished the match with 54 kills and .200 attack percentage.
• Sophomore Brittney Prince led the team with 17 kills, .433 hitting percentage and seven blocks (three solo and four assisted).
• Cronkright and Champion recorded 13 and 11 kills, respectively.
• Sophomore Madelyn Notenbaum posted team-highs in set assists (45) and digs (14).
• Freshman Mia Parker served a team-best four service aces.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Olivet def. Cincinnati-Clermont 25-21, 25-20, 25-12
Location: Keating Sports Center; Chicago, Ill.
Records: Olivet 5-13 overall, UC-Clermont 9-13 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Comets built a 10-5 lead in the first set. The Cougars came back with a 6-1 scoring spurt to tie the set at 11-11. Olivet answered with a 4-0 run and it did not trail for the rest of the set.
• Clermont opened the second set on a 6-3 run. The Comets responded with four straight points, including three kills for Champion, to go up 7-6. Holding another one-point lead at 11-10, Olivet put six straight points, including three aces for Cronkright, on the scoreboard. The Comets stretched their lead to 10 points, 24-14. The Cougars did not go down quietly. The scored six straight points before a Cronkright kill ended the set.
• Olivet took a 7-1 lead in the third set. The Comets did not give up the lead for the rest of the set.

FOR THE COMETS

• Olivet recorded 43 kills and .265 attack percentage compared to 26 kills and .093 attack percentage for the Cougars.
• Champion topped the team with 16 kills and .303 hitting percentage.
• Senior Allison Turner was next with eight kills.
• Prince had six kills and six blocks.
• Notenbaum dished out 37 set assists.
• Sophomore Gabrielle Mundt tallied a match-high 15 digs.
• Cronkright tallied 10 digs and four service aces.

UP NEXT

• Olivet stays in Chicago tonight for day two of the Scarlet Hawk Invitational tomorrow. The Comets face Anderson (Ind.) University at 10 a.m. ET, followed by a match against Illinois Tech.