FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Greenville University women's volleyball team picked up an impressive straight-set victory Friday afternoon, defeating Mount St. Joseph 25-23, 25-18, 25-22 before suffering a 3-0 loss to Aurora University on Friday night at the Franklin Invitational inside the Spurlock Center. The Panthers fell by scores of 25-17, 25-12, and 25-21 in the second match.
The Panthers provided a balanced offensive attack and strong defensive effort against MSJ, overcoming 26 tie scores and 12 lead changes throughout the match. Greenville hit .200 as a team while limiting the Lions to a .040 attack percentage.
Outside hitter
Abby Grohmann led the Panthers offensively with a match-high 12 kills while adding nine digs.
Kennedy Legendre provided six kills on an efficient .267 hitting percentage, while
Sierrah Downey contributed seven kills and
Alyssa Company added five kills while hitting .400.
Emma Ratermann directed the offense with 29 assists and also recorded a team-high 10 digs.
Defensively,
Claudia Bonacorsi paced Greenville with 12 digs, while
Emily Ruppert added 11 and Grohmann chipped in nine.
The opening set was tightly contested from start to finish, featuring nine tie scores and five lead changes. Greenville edged the Lions 25-23 before taking control in the second set, using a balanced attack to secure a 25-18 victory and move within one set of the match win.
Mount St. Joseph battled throughout the third set, but the Panthers closed out the sweep with a 25-22 decision behind a strong offensive performance that produced 16 kills and a .289 hitting percentage in the final frame.
At the net, Greenville recorded six total blocks, led by
Alyssa Company's two solo blocks and contributions from
Laney Baldrige,
Sierrah Downey,
Abby Grohmann,
Emma Ratermann, and
Makenna Reckling.
The Greenville University women's volleyball team battled throughout the late afternoon and showed improvement against Aurora as the match progressed, posting its best offensive set in the third frame with a .250 hitting percentage.
The Panthers stayed within striking distance late in the set before Aurora (6-1) closed out the match.
Abby Grohmann paced the Greenville attack with a team-high eight kills, while
Makenna Reckling added five kills on an efficient .300 hitting percentage.
Sierrah Downey contributed five kills and a block assist, and
Keira Weber recorded four kills while helping lead the Panthers at the net with three total blocks.
Setter
Emma Ratermann directed the offense with 16 assists and added a service ace. Greenville totaled 29 kills and hit .124 as a team.
Defensively,
Claudia Bonacorsi led all Panthers with 11 digs, while
Emily Ruppert added nine digs. Greenville finished with 35 team digs and collected nine total blocks in the contest.
Aurora was led by Katelyn Ruse's match-high 11 kills and hit .287 as a team. The Spartans recorded 45 kills and 11 service aces while limiting Greenville's offense throughout the afternoon.
The Panthers (3-3) will continue play at the Franklin Invitational on Saturday.
