McGrath sets Career-High as V-Hawks Split Matches

NORTH SIOUX CITY, SD – The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball team, ranked #4 in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, split a pair of matches at the College of Saint Mary (Neb.) Labor Day Classic on Friday afternoon. The V-Hawks lost to #12 College of Saint Mary, 1-3 (18-25, 22-25, 25-22, 22-25) and topped (RV) Providence (Mont.) 3-1 (25-18, 26-28, 25-19, 25-15). Viterbo now sits at 8-2 on the year, the Flames are 9-1, and the Argos are 7-2.

Cailie Kowal set up Grace Rohde for the first point of the match, and after Martina McGrath and Kenzie Winker combined for a block, Kenidi McCabe would record a service ace for the 6-4 early V-Hawk lead. CSM responded with a big run for the 7-12 lead, and despite Jada Mitchell's kills and Sadie Treptow-assisted block, and Casey Frankland's ace, the Flames would win 18-25.

Mitchell and Treptow combined for another block to start the second set, as did McGrath and Winker. Kowal would record a service ace, and Mitchell would pace the V-Hawks offense as Saint Mary went on another run for the 12-15 advantage. Winker ended the run and Maddie Connor found Mitchell for consecutive kills, but the Flames still led 19-24 late. Winker started a rally with two kills and a McGrath assisted block, but it came too late and SCM won 22-25.

Winker would start the third set with two blocks, one solo and one assisted by Mitchell, and McGrath put down back-to-back kills, helping the V-Hawks build a 12-8 lead. The Flames would manage to even the match at 17-17, but with the help of some CSM errors and Rohde's kills, the V-Hawks would win 25-22.

Rohde kept it going into the fourth, recording a kill, block, and ace to kick off a 5-1 lead. Despite three kills by Winker, Saint Mary would take the lead again, 9-12. McGrath block two attempts, one assisted by Winker, the other with Marissa Kleman, and after back-to-back errors by the Flames, Viterbo would trail by just one, 19-20. Mitchell had a pair of late kills, but CSM would win 22-25.

Mitchell led all players with 18 kills on .417 hitting, Winker recorded 16 (with 13 digs) and Rohde added 13. Connor posted a game-high 51 assists, McCabe led all players with 31 digs, and McGrath and Winker each had six blocks. Kamryn Willman led CSM with 15 kills, Lauren Anderson had 30 assists, and Rachel Cushing had 30 digs.

In the second match of the day, early kills and an ace from Winker helped the V-Hawks jump out to a 9-7 lead, and Mia Quist's ace extended it to 11-8. The teams would trade points until Connor's kill, assisted by Rohde sparked a run leading to a Grace Peyron kill and 25-18 V-Hawk win.

Rohde and McGrath led the V-Hawks's scoring early with kills and a block for an 11-7 lead. The Argos would even the match, then take a 12-14 lead on a kill from Nina Janjic. Rohde's kill and ace evened it back at 14-14, and the teams would trade points until a pair of PU errors gave Viterbo the 22-19 lead. Providence would rally with four late blocks leading to the 26-28 win.

Rohde and Winker helped the V-Hawks jump out to a quick 8-2 lead in the third, McGrath added a block with Winker, and Mitchell put down a kill to expand the lead to 15-7. Despite a few errors, Viterbo heldMorningside (iowa) and Dordt ( on to a comfortable lead for the rest of the set, and Mitchell ended the set 25-19.

The fourth set saw more of the same, as McCabe recorded an early ace, and McGrath had four kills leading to the 8-5 advantage. The V-Hawks kept feeding McGrath, and kept building their lead. Winker added back-to-back kills for the 19-12 lead, and the match would end with four straight point by Viterbo, including two aces from Quist.

Rohde led all players with 21 kills on .340 hitting, and McGrath had a career high 18 kills, hitting .517. Connor had 54 assists, and McCabe led four V-Hawks in double digit digs with 18. McGrath also had five blocks. Janjic led the Argos with 14 kills, Natalia Slazynska had 19 assists, and Taylor Christensen posted 17 digs.

The V-Hawks return to action on Saturday with matches against Morningside (Iowa) and Dordt (Iowa) to finish the CSM Labor Day Classic.