V-Hawks Complete Reverse Sweep of #10 Montana Tech, Go 2-0

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball team, ranked 4th in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, went 2-0 on the first day of the 2023 Days in V-Hawk Invitational on Friday. The V-Hawks defeated William Penn University (Iowa) in a 3-1 match (25-17, 27-29, 25-13, 25-15) in their first game, and topped #10 Montana Tech, 3-2 (24-26, 23-25, 25-19, 25-14, 15-13). The V-Hawks improve to 12-2 overall while the Statesmen drop to 6-6 and the Orediggers are 7-1.

The V-Hawks would start strong, with Grace Rohde and Maddie Connor rattling off the first six points. The Statesmen would respond with two consecutive points, one from Andressa Point, and another from a V-Hawk error. The teams traded points for the rest of the set, and a pair of points from Martina McGrath and Kenzie Winker would end the set 25-17 in favor of the V-Hawks.

The second set would be a battle from start to finish. Connor started off strong, landing the set's first two kills, which William Penn would answer with two points of their own (2-2). The teams traded leads, Katlyn Jeter coming up big for the Tradesmen with 6 kills, and Winker, Rhode, and Jada Mitchell all contributing for the V-Hawks. The teams reached scores of 24-24, 25-25, 26-26, and 27-27. The set would be decided after three consecutive William Penn points, reaching a score of 29-27.

The V-Hawks bounced back in the third, coming out and landing the first four points of the set. V-Hawk errors would lead to the Tradesmen putting two on the board. The V-Hawks quickly re-gained control, leading at almost every point of the set. Following a William Penn timeout at 16-13, Rhode would serve seven consecutive points, finished by Winker and Sadie Treptow to bring the set to a 25-13 close.

The fourth and final set would start off as a back-and-forth battle, the teams trading leads. Mitchell took control at 13-11, contributing two kills and a block to Viterbo's six consecutive points, bringing the score to 18-11. William Penn would go on to score a few more points, but the V-Hawks maintained their momentum, closing the match off of a Rhode kill (25-15).

Winker led all players with 21 kills, followed by Rhode with 16. Connor contributed 35 assists, and McCabe 17 digs. Jeter added 11 kills for William Penn, while teammates Mia Brady and Chyanne Bradford logged a combined 31 assists.

The first set against Montana Tech started extremely points, with eight ties by the time the score reached 8-8. The Orediggers would take the biggest lead of the set at 12-9, and after kills by Rohde and McGrath, MTU would go back up 11-14. McGrath and Winker tied the set again at 14-14, and a Mia Quist ace gave the V-Hawks the lead. After Maureen Jessop tied the set at 21-21, they would slowly chip away at the lead, and score the last three point for the win.

The Orediggers would take that momentum into the second set, jumping out to an 11-4 lead. Quist recorded another ace, and Rohde's kills began to land as the V-Hawks began to chip away at the lead. Yet another Quist-ace and errors my Montana Tech brought the score to 18-20, and it was then Maddie Connor's turn for an ace, and Mitchell's kill tied the set at 21-21. While Mitchell and Sadie Treptow did record a late block, Montana Tech pulled away again, 23-25.

Another back-and-forth start in the third saw a Cailie Kowal ace, and a spread out attack by the V-Hawks. A pair of errors by MTU gave Viterbo the 16-12 lead, but they would quickly tie the set again at 17-17. But Rohde's kill sparked a late run, and Treptow and Mitchell had clutch kills at the end leading to VU's 25-19 win.

While Montana Tech took the early lead again in the fourth, Marissa Kleman and Mitchell combined for back-to-back blocks, and Quist had another ace, starting a massive run for Viterbo, as Viterbo exploded for 19 points to Montana's five. The run was highlighted by a pair of Connor aces, one ace from Kenidi McCabe, and plenty of kills from Rohde.

In the deciding fifth set, VU jumped out to the 8-3 lead behind Winker and Kleman, but Montanan rattled off five straight points, and would take the lead, 11-12. But Mitchell came up clutch for the V-Hawks, scoring three of the last four points of the match with two kills and a Treptow-assisted block.

Rohde led all players with 20 kills, while Mitchell had 16 on .394 hitting and Winker added 15. Connor had a game-high 43 assists, and Mitchell had four blocks. McCabe led four V-Hawks with double-digit digs with 22.

Jessop led the Orediggers with 14 kills, while Olivia Labeau recorded 10 on .556 hitting. Layton Rhys had 25 assists, and Jelena Jablanov had 11 digs.

The V-Hawks return to action Saturday, September 9 as they host Columbia (Mo.) in their final game of the 2023 V-Hawk Invitational.