V-Hawks Claim a Pair of Sweeps at Home

LA CROSSE, Wis. - The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball team, ranked #9 in this week's NAIA top 25 Coaches' Poll, claimed a pair of sweeps the Onalaska Days Inn & Suites Volleyball Invitational on Saturday at the R.W. Beggs Sr. Gymnasium. The V-Hawks started the day with a 3-0 win over the Rochester University Warriors (25-14, 25-15, 25-13), and in the last game of the tournament, topped (RV) Rocky Mountain 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 33-31). The V-Hawks improve to 10-5, while the Warriors fall to 2-11, and the Bears drop to 5-8.

Scoring first for the V-Hawks was Grace Rhode, tying the score 1-1. The game would remain neck and neck until two kills, one from Jada Mitchell and another from Rhode, would give Viterbo a 10-6 lead. Another 5-1 run by the V-Hawks, highlighted by an Adrianna Reinhart ace and Mariah Calkins kill, but Viterbo up 18-10. Viterbo finished the set on a three-kill streak, all assisted by Lauryn Sobasky, with Taylor Larson, Calkins, and Rhode each contributing one kill. The V-Hawks won the set 25-14.

Starting the second set, Grace Peyron recorded her first kill of the game and set the V-Hawks up for an early lead. The Warriors scored the next point, and two consecutive kills from Jada Mitchell brought Viterbo back to a 4-2 lead. Rochester stayed in the game, making it a 4-4 tie. Viterbo answered with four straight points, including two kills by Mitchell, one by Rhode, and a Warrior error. After trading points for nine volleys, VU would put on an 8-1 run with aces from Larson and Maddie Connor. Sadie Treptow recorded a late kill, and Rhode ended the game 25-15.

Rhode continued scoring the V-Hawks first point of the third and final set. Peyron added another making the score 2-1. A few points later Adrianna Reinhart landed a service ace bringing the V-Hawks to a three-point lead. Viterbo went on to score four more points stretching the lead to 9-3. The Warriors Olivia Francis and Mackenzie Keefer each recorded a point bringing the score to 9-5. The V-Hawks put up five consecutive points on the board and a Calkins-Peyron block put them up 19-8. The game ended with a kill by Mitchell and a V-Hawk 25-13 victory over the Warriors. 

Rohde led all players with 15 kills while Mitchell added 14. Cailie Kowal recorded a game-high 24 assists, Sobasky had 18, and Adrianna Reinhart posted 21 digs. 

Rochester's Carly Rodman put up 19 digs while Olivia Francis added 7 kills. Charlotte Warner led the team with 12 assists. 

The opening set of the late game started even until Calkins had a block and kill to help Viterbo start to pull away, 14-9. A Kowal ace would put the V-Hawks up by as much as six, and while the Bears would close the lead to just two, errors pushed Viterbo back ahead, and Winker ended the game at 25-20.

The V0Hawks began to pull away in the second set as Mitchell recorded back-to-back blocks, one with Rohde, the second with Martina McGrath. Calkins put Viterbo up 12-7 with a kill, and Marissa Kleman's Sobasky-assisted kill capped a 6-1 run to go up 18-10. After alternating points, Rohde finally ended the game 25-18.

A wild final set of the tournament began with a Kleman kill to go up 8-3, but the Bears would then put together their best run of the match, putting together a 10-2 run capped by a Brooke Ark ace to go up 15-12. Viterbo answered back to retake the lead 16-15, but Viterbo errors helped Rocky Mountain go back up 22-19. Rohde's kill tied the game at 22. The Bears first three game-point attempts were foiled by kills from Rohde, Winker, and Kleman. After tying the game at 28, McGrath and Mitchell's block set up another game point for the V-Hawks, but it wouldn't be until RMU went up 31-30 that the V-Hawks were able to put the game away. Rohde recorded three straight kills, two assisted by Sobasky, to claim victory for Viterbo.

Rohde led all players with 15 kills, and Winker reached double digits with 11. Sobasky tied a game-high 23 assists and Kowal was just four behind her at 19. Reinhart had 24 digs and Sobasky tied her career high of 17, and McGrath and Calkins each had one solo block and two block assists.

Rhiannon Nez led the bears with eight kills and two solo blocks, Sealy Blythe tied the game high 23 assists, and Ayla Emberly led all players with 25 digs.

The V-Hawks return to action Wednesday, September 14^th at Waldorf (Iowa) at 7:00 PM.