Milwaukee, Wis. – The Cardinal Stritch University women’s volleyball team showed poise and strength in Tuesday’s win over Purdue University-North Central. In a night to honor seniors, all three made big contributions in their personal area of expertise. After a strong start, the Wolves dropped the second set, but kept their confidence and came back strong to finish off PNC 3-1 (25-11, 23-25, 25-19, and 25-21).
Stritch jumped ahead early in the set as Shannon Petrack (Winneconne, Wis.) served a six point run, giving the Wolves a 7-2 advantage. Errors by the Panthers along with strong hitting by Alyssa Ahmad (St. Francis, Wis.) and Katlyn Britton (Westby, Wis.) allowed Stritch to continually increase their lead, eventually closing the set 25-11.
The Panthers made things interesting by coming back strong in the second set. They took an early 5-2 lead on a kill by Kelsey Russell (Valparaiso, Ind.) and held on to their advantage until Stritch fought back to tie the set at 15-15. The two teams traded points until PNC managed a four point run to take the lead 24-21. Kills by Ashley Wipperfurth (Sauk City, Wis.) and Kaitlin Fischer (Mokena, Ill.) gave the Wolves a fighting chance, as they pulled within a point at 23-24, but it wasn’t enough for the comeback. The Panthers took the set 25-23 on a kill by Brittany Piaseczny (Whiting, Ind.).
The Wolves took the opportunity to turn the match back in their favor as they took the floor in the third set. Panther errors and three kills by Ahmad gave Stritch a 12-7 lead. The Wolves spread out the offense for the remainder of the set, getting contributions from Ahmad, Britton, Fischer, and Wipperfurth to maintain their advantage. A kills by Britton gave the Wolves the 25-19 win.
In the fourth set Wipperfurth served seven consecutive points to put the Wolves up 12-6. However, errors on the Wolves side gave the Panthers an opportunity to regain some ground, as they pulled to within two, 12-10. Stritch pulled away once again, using kills from Petrack, Flock, and Fischer, as well as service aces by Jackie Schmitz (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) and Cari Corozza (Milwaukee, Wis.) to take a 20-13 lead. Still, PNC wouldn’t give up and fought back hard, coming within one as a Tara Irwin (Walkertown, Ind.) kill brought the score to 22-21. Two Panther errors brought Stritch to match point. Anna Flock (Norwalk, Wis.) and Britton finished the last home match of the season with a block on Irwin, to take the set 25-21.
Russell led the Panthers with nine kills in the losing effort, while Irwin, Piaseczny, and Latesha Mitchell each added eight. Alyssa Davis (North Liberty, Ind.) dished out 32 assists. Defensively Irwin and Kirah Fifield (DeMotte, Ind.) each earned 16 digs.
Ahmad continued her hot streak for the Wolves, leading with a season-high 12 kills, as well as six block assists. Wipperfurth put down eight kills, while Fischer, Petrack, and Britton each added seven. Fischer also led with 34 assists in the match. Schmitz took control in the back row, earning a match-high 21 digs. Megan Galonski (Milwaukee, Wis.) recorded two service aces, along with nine digs.
The Wolves improve to 9-18 overall and 3-5 in the CCAC with the win. On Thursday, October 29, they travel to Deerfield, Ill. to take on conference foe Trinity International University.