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Box Score 4 Chicago, ILL. -- Another weekend with four matches in 24 hours - phew! What a great fan base Principia volleyball had in Chicago this weekend. Thank you to all those alumni and family and recruits that made it to a match (or four)!
Principia took on SLIAC rival Eureka in the first match, and ended up on the wrong side of a heart-breaking 13-15 loss in the 5
th deciding game. Ouch! The worst part was that Principia controlled most key parts of the match beating EC 82-74 in points, 65-60 in kills, and 10-5 in service aces, but of course the only thing that matters at a tourney is who scores the final point.
Emily Tippetts was the match stud with 25 kills hitting at a stellar .466 (over 10 kills higher than any other hitter on either team).
Sophia Hathaway and
Noelle Shoemake rounded out the firepower with 13 and 11 kills respectively.
Emma Herman and
Nikki Matters led the ball control passing solid at 2.7 and 2.6. Emily and
Sara Stephenson put up a strong blocking presence with 2 blocks apiece. The Panthers did what they wanted at the service line as well with 10 aces and only 4 errors, with Nikki leading the way with 3 aces, and Emma and Devon each adding 2.
After the grueling five game loss, the Panthers had a 30 minute turnaround time before taking on host Illinois Tech. Tech had quite a vocal home crowd, but Principia dug in after losing game one 19-25 to build and conquer in four games. This match the Panthers' offense was perfectly diverse with Emily leading the match at 19 kills (.429), but Sophia, Nikki and Noelle all proved effective putting the ball down with 9 or 10 kills each. The passing stayed strong with Sophia and
Cha Cha Fisher scoring 2.4 (out of 3.0) and Nikki at 2.3. Cha was tenacious in her defensive efforts as well picking up 18 digs. Sara was tough at the net with 3 blocks, and Sophia served a bold 96% with 2 aces.
On Saturday the Panthers started out against UC Cleremont, and took the victory in 3 straight games. It was a total team win with great play from
Mesa Goebel,
Anna Webster,
Amanda Roberts,
Makena Patterson,
Victoria Vandiver and
Rachel Proctor. The 100% serving club included
Amanda Roberts with 1 ace,
Anna Webster,
Devon Marunde, and
Emma Herman. The whole back court was on point with passing, and Sophia was picking up everything that got past the block with 21 digs. Another awesome outing for Tippetts with 20 kills hitting .357.
The final match in the whirlwind 24 hours was against the top team (no losses) Olivet. The Panthers looked sluggish and at least a step slow starting this match out – losing games one and two with what looked like very little fight in them. BUT, we know to NEVER count this team out. Game three the Panthers were successful in taking Olivet out of system and then going on a scoring spree. Strong serving, smart offense, and knowing when to hit their kaboom ball led to a 25-12 victory. Game four saw a determined Olivet team refusing to open the door for Principia, but Prin was pushing, pushing pushing. 10-10, 13-13, 17-17, 21-21, with their efforts being squashed by a few unforced communication errors 23-25 – match over. Another fine offensive effort with Tippetts putting down 15 kills, Sophia 10 and Noelle 7. The passers stuttered at the start with poor ball control, but pulled themselves up by the bootstraps to level things out – but that tough start just added fuel to the Olivet fire. The Panthers put up a nice blocking presence with Tippetts and Stephenson each posting 3 blocks and Devon 2. All servers were above 90% with 3 aces.
The team hosts Fontbonne in Hay Fieldhouse this Tuesday at 7pm – come cheer them on!
