LISLE, Ill. – The North Park women's volleyball team played in another five-set match on Tuesday night. This time, the Vikings just didn't have enough as they dropped the full-action match to Benedictine inside the Rice Center (25-17, 23-25, 17-25, 25-14, 10-15).
A slow start was certainly not to blame in the Vikings' first away match of the season, as they raced ahead to an 11-3 lead thanks to a plethora of kills by junior outside hitter Adriana Rodriguez and freshman middle blocker Meg Rothermel. The Eagles closed the gap to 19-16, but an ace by senior libero Teiya Alagar and a handful of Benedictine attacking errors gave the Vikings a 25-17 opening set win.
Set two was playing much like the first, with the Vikings capturing a 5-1 lead. However, now with a 9-4 lead, Benedictine took 11 of the next 13 points to vault ahead, 15-11. North Park crawled back with kills by junior middle blocker Rhianna Huebner, but the Eagles pulled out the win, 25-23.
After losing the third set 25-17, North Park dominated the fourth set 25-14, appearing to gain some momentum heading into the final set. However, the Eagles would step up with their best team attacking percentage of the night (.258) while holding the Vikings to their worst (.000) to steal the match away, 15-10.
Quick Hits:
- Nine blocks for North Park, led by four from Rothermel and three from senior setter Christina Gatta
- Six more aces from the Vikings, including three from sophomore libero Carolina Aviles
- Aviles adds 28 digs
- Rodriguez led both teams with 19 kills
- BenU's Olivia McPherson posted 17 kills
- BenU's Kiara McPherson adds four blocks and 30 assists
What's Next?
The competition will continue to step up, as the Vikings (3-1) will make the short drive to participate in U-Chicago's tournament this Friday (Sept. 8) and Saturday (Sept. 9). The Vikings will face Stevens on Friday at 5:00 PM before facing Colby and host U-Chicago on Saturday at 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM, respectively.
