Ninth-Ranked Viterbo Sneaks Past Volleyball

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – At the Carl & Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex, the (RV) Blue Raider volleyball team kept nearly every aspect of their match with No. 9 Viterbo University neck-and-neck. However, the V-Hawks found all the right touches when it mattered, dealing the locals a three-set sweep.

In its final outing of the Spartan Invitational, hosted by Missouri Baptist University, Lindsey Wilson turned in its highest hitting percentage of the weekend en route to 38 total kills, but in critical moments down the stretch of each set, Viterbo found ways to take advantage of costly Blue Raider errors.

The morning's first frame saw the V-Hawks open up a 9-5 lead, with four of their nine points coming from Lindsey Wilson miscues. Despite subsequently charging back to knot the set at 15-15, the locals could not fend off another furious attack display, ultimately handing Viterbo a 25-23 set win.

The designated home side built off of its showing in the first set to race ahead 5-0 to begin the middle set, only to be swiftly countered by a 12-7 run by the Blue Raiders to draw the frame level, and a rare kill by Camryn Rich to push them ahead 13-12.

Behind a series of Viterbo errors, Lindsey Wilson's lead grew to its largest at the point, 16-13, but the V-Hawks regained their composure out of a timeout to outscore their opposition 12-6 and claim the frame, 25-22.

In the match's final set, the Raiders, again, were able to utilize multiple Viterbo attack errors, and a combination of kills by Savanah Pippin, Madison Bidwell, and Elisa Burzio, to stretch their lead to as many as five points. Still, with a possible fourth set looking them in the eyes, the V-Hawks rallied against back-to-back set-points to clinch the match with a 26-24 third-set win.

Alexis Smith paced Lindsey Wilson with eight kills off the bench, followed by seven each from Aleksandra Wyrzkowska and Bidwell.

Rich finished with her third double-double of the season, posting 28 assists and 10 digs.

The Blue Raiders conclude their Missouri road trip tomorrow with duals against No. 15 Indiana Wesleyan and 20^th-ranked Columbia College in Columbia.