AURORA, Ill. - At the Jim Coleman Memorial Classic hosted by the Aurora University Spartans, the Sabercats took an impressive win against the Cardinals of North Central (Ill.) before falling in four sets to the hosts. The loss ended the Sabercats' rich vein of form, which started with a win at Milwaukee Engineering on September 17th.

The Basics

• Results:
  • W 3-2 vs North Central 
  • L 1-3 vs Aurora
• Location: Aurora, Ill.
• Venue: Aurora University
• Sabercats: now 16-5

Match-by-Match

• W 3-2 vs North Central (22-25, 25-21, 16-25, 25-22, 16-14)
  • The match was evenly-fought from the opening bouts, as the Sabercats kept it close from the start. After dropping a tightly-contested first half, the Sabercats found themselves in the hole 17-21 in set two. Then, an inspirational 8-0 run closed the set out in style and swung the momentum back in the Sabercats' favor. The momentum would not last long, however, as the Cardinals won a decisive third before allowing the Sabercats to continue the tradeoff and take set four. After the fifth went into a tie, the Sabercats ended a match consisting of lengthy volleys at 16-14. The Sabercats did well to overcome an uncharacteristic 32 errors as they reversed the earlier-season loss to the Cardinals.
• L 1-3 vs Aurora: (15-25, 11-25, 26-24, 28-30)
  • The Sabercats peaked late on in the second match, as they faltered in the early sets to the Spartan's home-court advantage to manage just 26 points in the first two sets combined. After shaking off the poor start, the Sabercats rallied to win the third set after it was deadlocked at 24. The final set was a marathon, but it eventually fell to the Spartans, who finished what they started with a match-ending 30-28 win.

Side Notes

• Alison Renz boasted double-doubles in each match as the senior registered 32 kills, 30 digs and 10 blocks on the day.
• Madeline Thompson recorded 18 kills on the day.
• Julia Gunst racked up 56 assists in the two matches combined.
• Alexis Johnson's two matches consisted of 31 digs to supplement 16 kills.

Up Next

• After the Sabercats host Carthage in a JV game on Monday, October 17th, the Varsity squad will return to action on Tuesday, October 18th at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee for a 7:00 PM match time.