Winker's Double-Double Lead's V-Hawks in Ranked Win

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball team, ranked #5 in the most recent NAIA Top-25 Coaches Poll, secured a huge win over #18 Bellevue University (Neb.) on Friday night. The two teams shared the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) title last season with identical 13-1 records. The V-Hawks improve to 24-3 (8-0 NSAA) on the year, while the Bruins fall to 19-8 (5-4 NSAA).

Grace Rohde and Kenzie Winker would pace the V-Hawks early, but after a Martina McGrath-Sadie Treptow blocks, the Bruins would go on an 8-1 for the 15-7 lead. Jada Mitchell would end the run, but Bellevue would stay in command, as despite late kills by Winker, BU won the opening set 25-14.

The teams traded early runs to start the second, as after a Kenidi McCabe ace, the Bruins had a 5-0 run for the 8-5 lead. Viterbo answered with four straight of their own, including an ace form Cailie Kowal. Bellevue would build another lead, going up 14-12, with another 5-0 VU run, led by Winker, gave them the advantage again. The Bruins tied the match at 20-20, but a McGrath kill among Bruin errors gave Viterbo the 25-21 win.

The V-Hawks exploded to start the third, going up 8-0. Mitchell recorded three early blocks, two with Rohde and one with Marissa Kleman, and Rohde contributed three kills to the run while Maddie Connor added an ace. After Bellevue ended the run, Kleman put down two straight kills. While the Bruins would find their offense later in the set, Viterbo held a comfortable lead the rest of the way to a 25-18 win, as Saide Treptow recorded three more kills, Mitchell had a solo block, and McGrath had a kill and a Kleman assisted block.  

The fourth set started much closer with five ties by the time the score reached 6-6. Viterbo started to pull away, after consecutive Rohde kills made the score 12-8, but Bellevue battled right back to bring the score to 13-12. Winker led Viterbo as they held onto a narrow lead, and a Rodhe-McGrath block sparked the final 7-2 run of the match, highlighted by three block-assisted by Mitchell and a Winker kill for the 25-19 win.

Winker led all players with 18 kills and added 14 digs for the double-double, and Rohde posted a double-double of her own with 17 kills and 16 digs. Connor dished a match-high 25 assists, Kowal added 16, and 11 digs, while McCabe recorded 26 digs. Mitchell also had eight blocks. Eve Fountain led the Bruins with 16 kills and 26 digs.

The V-Hawks return to action on Saturday, October 21 as they host Dakota State University (SD).