GREENVILLE, Ill. — The women's volleyball team continued its march through the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule at H.J. Long Gymnasium on Saturday, defeating Spalding in straight sets 25-16, 25-9, 25-17 before surviving a tough test from Blackburn to earn a 23-25, 25-12, 25-14, 22-25, 15-10 victory.
During the win over Spalding, the women's volleyball team honored
Claudia Bonacorsi's 1000th career dig, and after the win against Blackburn, the program celebrated head coach
Tom Ackerman's 500th career win as Greenville's women's volleyball coach.
Greenville dominated offensively against Spalding, hitting .337 as a team with 41 kills and just 10 errors on 92 attacks.
The Panthers also controlled the service line with 11 aces and limited the Golden Eagles to a .059 hitting percentage.
Alyssa Company led Greenville's attack with nine kills on 18 swings without an error for a team-best .500 hitting percentage.
Abby Grohmann added a match-high 13 kills and hit .333, while
Keira Weber contributed eight kills and
Kennedy Legendre chipped in seven.
Emma Ratermann directed the offense with 35 assists and also recorded six service aces, helping Greenville pull away in each set.
Brooke-Lynn Mapa added three aces and
Mia McSchooler finished with one.
Defensively,
Claudia Bonacorsi paced the Panthers with 13 digs.
Emily Ruppert added six digs, while Grohmann and Ratermann collected five apiece.
Greenville seized control early, posting 13 kills in the opening set before turning in its most dominant performance in the second.
The Panthers hit .444 in the middle frame with 15 kills and held Spalding to three kills and a negative hitting percentage.
Greenville closed out the match with 13 more kills in the third set to complete the sweep.
The Panthers finished with advantages in kills (41-22), hitting percentage (.337-.059), aces (11-4), assists (41-22), digs (39-35), and blocks (9-5).
Greenville's offense against Blackburn was powered by a balanced attack led by
Abby Grohmann, who recorded a match-high 23 kills while adding 22 digs for a double-double.
Sierrah Downey added 16 kills,
Kennedy Legendre contributed 12, and
Alyssa Company was highly efficient with nine kills on 16 attacks without an error for a .563 hitting percentage.
Setter
Emma Ratermann directed the offense with 54 assists as the Panthers hit .257 as a team and totaled 67 kills.
Blackburn opened the match by edging Greenville 25-23 in the first set before the Panthers responded emphatically.
Greenville dominated the next two sets, winning 25-12 and 25-14 while holding the Beavers to a combined .067 hitting percentage during that stretch.
The Beavers forced a decisive fifth set by claiming the fourth set 25-22.
In the final set, Greenville regained control, hitting .333 while limiting Blackburn to a .167 mark. Â The Panthers closed out the match 15-10 to secure their eighth consecutive conference victory.
Defensively,
Claudia Bonacorsi paced Greenville with eight service aces and 19 digs, while Grohmann added 22 digs and
Mia McSchooler chipped in 12.
The Panthers finished with 85 digs compared to Blackburn's 69.
Greenville (15-7, 8-0 SLIAC) returns to action looking to maintain its hold atop the SLIAC standings on Wednesday night against Westminster at 7 p.m.
