Aurora University Athletics

The Aurora University women's volleyball team took on Wartburg College and Illinois Wsleyan University in a tri-match at Illinois Wesleyan University on Tuesday afternoon. AU split the matches, defeating Wartburg in the opener 3-0 before dropping a thrilling five set match with the host Titans 3-2.


MATCH ONE SCORE: Aurora University 3, Wartburg College 0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-23)
MATCH TWO SCORE: Illinois Wesleyan University 3, Aurora University 2 (24-26, 23-25, 25-19, 26-24, 9-15)
LOCATION: Bloomington, Illinois
RECORD: Aurora University 1-1 overall


MATCH ONE:
- AU took a lead they would not relinquish in the opening set following an ace from Marie Reichman.
- The Spartans would go on to win 25-23, taking advantage of numerous Wartburg errors down the stretch.
- AU won the second set in another tightly contested set, 25-21. 
- Katelyn Ruse and Izabella Kowalczyk each had four kills in the second set win.
- After leading early, AU saw their lead disappear before battling back to regain and win the set 25-23.
- Peyton Darguzis led the Spartans with four kills in the third set win.

MATCH TWO
- The first set was a telling sign for the match to come, a closely contested match that went down to the final points.
- AU dropped set one 26-24 with Rosie Karl leading AU in kills.
- The Spartans fought tough in the second set and despite six kills from Karl, AU fell 25-23 and trailed the match 2-0.
- The third set saw the Spartans remain in the match, winning 10 of the last 14 points on the way to a 25-19 win.
- Darguzis was perfect with three kills in the third set win.
- The fourth set was yet another close set with 12 tie scores and five lead changes. 
- It was the Spartans with a kill from Rosie Karl that won the fourth set 26-24 and forced the winner take all fifth set.
- AU would drop the fifth set 15-9 and drop the match 3-2.


MATCH ONE
KILLS: Katelyn Ruse (10)
ASSISTS: Trinity Nelson (28)
DIGS: Katie Brisk (14), Izabella Kowalczyk (11) and Katelyn Ruse (10)
ACES: Marie Reichman (2)
BLOCKS: Peyton Darguzis and Trinity Nelson (1)

MATCH TWO
KILLS:  Rosie Karl (26) and Hazel Cook (12)
ASSISTS: Trinity Nelson (49)
DIGS: Katie Brisk (29), Katelyn Ruse (20) and Trinity Nelson (16) 
ACES: Trinity Nelson (3)
BLOCKS: Hazel Cook (6) and Peyton Darguzis (5)


Next action for the Spartan women's volleyball team comes Friday, September 4 when they host Coe College. Opening serve is set for 5:00 p.m. in Thornton Gymnasium.