Top Four Seeds Advance To Semifinal Round In Volleyball Tournament
CHICAGO --- Each of the top four seeds advanced to the semifinal round of the 2024 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament after three of the four teams won in straight sets and the final one was pushed to a fifth game before landing the victory on Tuesday night.
Winning in the minimum number of sets were top-seeded Viterbo University (23-9), No. 2 Saint Xavier University (18-10) and No. 3 Judson University (19-12), while No. 4 St. Ambrose University (16-15) won the see-saw battle with No. 5 University of St. Francis.
Thursday's semifinal matchups have St. Ambrose going to Viterbo and Saint Xavier hosting Judson. During the regular season, Saint Xavier defeated Judson in three games, while St. Ambrose pushed Viterbo to five games before falling.
The winners of the two semifinal contests advance to the championship match on Saturday at the site of the highest remining seed.
The tournament champion secures the conference's automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, which will take place Nov. 23 at one of various sites.
Recapping Tuesday:
Viterbo def. Trinity Christian 25-20, 25-15, 25-18
The V-Hawks had a pair of players hit at better than a .500 clip leading to a team percentage of .324. Jada Mitchell led the way with her .562 report (10 kills/1 error/16 chances), while Sadie Treptow did not commit an error in 13 chances with seven kills (.538). Maddie Connor (20 assists) and Cailie Kowal (18) combined for 38 assists, while Kenidi McCabe (10 digs) and Grace Peyton (four blocks) handled things defensively.
St. Ambrose def. St. Francis 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12
Trenyce Bonner put up 23 kills and Mackenzie Grafton another 17 to go along with four aces to lead the Fighting Bees to the intense five-set victory. Ines Marques set them up with 34 assists, while Kenia Diaz Vega handled the primary defensive chores with her 32 digs.
Saint Xavier def. Indiana Northwest 25-20, 25-21, 25-12
Four Cougars recorded no less than nine kills with Connie LeBel (12 kills) leading the way. Nicole Grochola was right behind with 11, while also authoring four blocks. Carrington Smith posted a .692 attack percentage after totaling nine kills in 13 chances with no errors. As a team, SXU hit .325. Samantha Hovey set things up with her 41 assists. Katie DeHaan led the way defensively with 16 digs.
Judson def. Olivet Nazarene 25-16, 25-18, 25-18
Alyssa Gerzel (12 kills, 11 digs) and Yomailis Fernandez (12 kills, 17 digs) both recorded double-doubles for the Eagles, while Jaclyn Riedl led the offense with 14 kills. Alina Romero provided 21 assists.
The complete tournament schedule and results follows:
Tuesday, November 12 - First Round
• Match #1: No. 1 Viterbo def. No. 8 Trinity Christian 25-20, 25-15, 25-18
• Match #2: No. 4 St. Ambrose def. No. 5 St. Francis 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12
• Match #3: No. 2 Saint Xavier def. No. 7 Indiana Northwest 25-20, 25-21, 25-12
• Match #4: No. 3 Judson def. No. 6 Olivet Nazarene 25-16, 25-18, 25-18
Thursday, November 14 - Semifinal Round
• Match #5: No. 4 St. Ambrose (16-15) at No. 1 Viterbo (23-9) --- 6 pm
• Match #6: No. 3 Judson (19-12) at No. 2 Saint Xavier (18-10) --- 7 pm
Saturday, November 16 – Championship
• Match #7: Winner-Match #5 vs. Winner-Match #6 --- TBA (at site of highest remaining seed)