RIVER FOREST, Ill. - The Rockford University women's volleyball team hit the road on Tuesday night looking for its first Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference win of the season when it played the Concordia University Chicago Cougars. The Regents have not had a lot of recent success against the Cougars but were hoping that a new season would change their fortunes. However, it was not meant to be as the Cougars took down the Regents in straight sets 3-0.
Despite losing in straight sets, the Regents were within striking distance in all three. The opening set went back and forth for the first 28 points of the set with neither team able to gain control. Rockford opened the set with scoring eight of the first eleven points to grab its largest lead of the match at 8-3. However, the Cougars bounced right back to score seven unanswered points to take a 10-8 advantage. The two teams again went back and forth until Concordia Chicago seized control scoring ten of the last fifteen points to win the opening set 25-18.
The second set began the opposite way as the first with the Cougars getting off to a fast start and the Regents battling back. Concordia Chicago jumped out to a 17-7 lead before the Regents went on a 9-0 run to make it 17-16. The Regents were spurred along in part by the serving of Emily Johnson (Santee, Calif./Santana) and the net play of Katelyn Hasken (Lanark, Ill./Eastland). Johnson recorded both of her serving aces during the Regents run while Hasken spiked home a pair of kills. Despite the Regents best efforts the Cougars closed the second set strong scoring eight of the final fourteen points winning 25-22 to grab a 2-0 lead.
The third and final set followed a similar path to the second as the Cougars jumped out to an early 15-5 lead. Once again the ladies were able to battle back going on a 13-5 run and get within two points at 20-18. This time it was Erin Pederson (Oregon, Ill./Oregon) who got the comeback started as the junior recorded back-to-back kills to begin the run. Rockford's defense also played a large part in the comeback as their pressure forced numerous errors by Concordia Chicago. However, once more Cougars finished off the set strong scoring five of the final seven points to win the set 25-20 and the match 3-0.
The volleyball team returns to action this coming weekend when it plays four games at the Wheaton Invitational. The Regents open with matches against Wheaton and UW-Stout on Friday at 3 and 5 p.m. respectively.
