V-Hawks Split Games on Second Day of Montana Tech Tournament

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball Team, ranked ninth in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll, split a pair of games at the Montana Tech Big Sky Challenge on Friday. The V-Hawks lost in five sets (25-18, 25-22, 27-29, 17-25, 13-15) to Vanguard (Calif.), who was receiving votes this week. Viterbo would rebound in the late game with a five-set win (23-25, 25-19, 25-14, 26-28, 15-10) over Northwest (Wash.) VU improve to 3-1 on the season while Vanguard (Calif.) is 1-1 and Northwest (Wash.) is now 1-1 as well.

Game One

Viterbo was the first on the board first in the first game of the day, as Lauryn Sobasky set up Marissa Kleman. The V-Hawks would expand that lead to 13-6 on a kill by Jada Mitchell from Maddie Connor, and up to 20-12 on a Taylor Larson ace. Lauryn Sobasky's kill from Adrianna Reinhart ended the first set at 25-18.

Grace Rohde put Viterbo on the board first in the second set, and the V-hawks would again build an early lead with Kleman's kill putting the score at 12-5. Vanguard's Delaney Hill brought the score within four at 20-16, but a short run and a kill from Mia Quist left the game at 24-17. The Saints had one more rally, coming back to 24-22 before Kleman ended the second set with a kill.

The third set saw another early lead for Viterbo, going up 3-0 on a Vanguard error, 9-4 on a Connor ace, and as much as 19-12 on a Martine McGrath kill. This time, Vanguard's rally didn't fizzle out, as the tied the game at 25-25, and won the game 29-27 off back-to-back Hill blocks.

Vanguard took the early lead in the fifth set, with a 5-0 run putting them up 12-6. Despite solo blocks from Mariah Calkins and Kleman, Viterbo couldn't close gap, and Cambria Fernandez's kill ended the second set at 25-17.

In the game-deciding set, Kenzie Winker put the V-Hawks up 5-3 on a kill from Sobasky, but a small 3-0 push from Vanguard was enough to take a 10-8 lead. Viterbo managed to tie the game at 12-12, but it wasn't enough, and Hill's kill successfully capped off the Saints comeback.

Winker (.057) and Rohde (.192) each posted 10 kills to lead the V-Hawks and Kleman added nine. Sobasky had 27 assists and Reinhart led all players with 21 digs. Kleman had a solo block and three assisted blocks, and Calkins had two of each.

Fernandez (.244) led the game with 17 kills, Madeline DeLucia had 33 assists, and Blair Dodgehad 19 digs.

Game Two

In the first set, Larson's ace gave Viterbo an early 10-6 advantage, but a 7-2 Northwest (Wash.) run quickly turned it around. The V-hawks would ratake the lead at 18-16 on a Winker kill, but the Eagles had another run, going back up 23-19. Kenidi McCabe's ace almost brought the V_hawks back, but a service error ended the first set at 25-23.

The second set started off back-and-forth until Kleman's kill put Viterbo up 10-9. The V-Hawks would not squander this lead with five Winker kills putting the score at 17-12. NU did bring the score to 21-18, but a few Eagle errors and a Kleman kill gave the V-Hawks a 25-19 victory.

Sobasky led the third set with an ace, and the V-Hawks wouldn't look back. Rohde put Viterbo up 5-1, and VU put up a 5-0 run to lead 10-2. Winker put Viterbo up 18-11 and started a 7-0 run before ending it at 25-14.

The fourth set was much closer with 5 ties after 10 points. VU managed to get up 9-5 on an NU error, but the Eagles would slowly chip away at the lead, until they took the lead at 17-16. A Quist kill put Viterbo back up 19-17, and a Winker kill kept them in the lead at 23-22. Errors let the Eagles back in, and Reece Denney ended the game at 28-26.

Northwest got up early in the final set, 3-0, but an 8-2 V-Hawk run capped by a Reinhart ace gave them a 6-4 lead. Mitchell put Viterbo up 11-7 on a kill assisted by Cailie Kowal, and the teams traded a few points until Reinhart's ace win the game 15-10.

Winker (.447) led all players with 23 kills, Sobasky posted a game-high 26 assists, and Reinhart had 16 digs. Matina McGrath had three solo blocks with two block assists, and Calkins had two and four.

Deleaney Sparks led the Eagles with 11 kills, AnnaSaelens had 20 assists, Kelsey more led the game with 18 digs, and Abi Broussard put up two solo blocks with three assisted.

Viterbo returns to the court Thursday, August 25^th at #1 ranked Missouri Baptist for the Missouri Baptist Spartan Invitational.