ROCKFORD, Ill.- After suffering a midseason slump, the Rockford University Volleyball team pounded Alverno College earlier this week in the teams conference opener. The Regents looked to continue playing strong on Friday against Sauk Valley Community College and Beloit College in the Rockford Triangular. Rockford easily handled Sauk Valley 3-1 in an exhibition match earlier Friday afternoon and the Regents looked to do the same to Beloit, but a poor second set had Rockford regrouping.
The Regents jumped out to a big lead in the first set before allowing the Buccaneers to stage a small comeback. Rockford would outlast Beloit 25-20 but the late set struggles carried over into the second set. Rockford came out a bit slow and Beloit took advantage and took the second set 25-15. After the intermission the Regents came out strong and cruised to a 25-14 third set win. With the match victory close at hand, Rockford easily handled Beloit in the final set 25-17 to win the match 3-1.
The starting six for Rockford all contributed to a nice balanced attack. All six had between five and nine kills. Kayla Kurz (Franklin Grove, Ill./Ashton-Franklin Center) and Katelyn Hasken (Lanark, Ill./Eastland) led the way with nine a piece. Ashley Simmons (Naperville, Ill./North) and Erin Pederson (Oregon, Ill./Oregon) were close behind with eight and seven kills respectively. Simmons was even more dominate from the service line as she led the match with six aces. She also paced the Regents with 25 digs.
Pederson, Hasken, Laina Scheri (Cortland, Ill./DeKalb), and Taylor Rossi (Ingleside, Ill./Grant Community) all posted double-digit dig totals. Rossi added in 32 assists and five kills. Freshman Peyton Achs (Erie, Ill./Eastland) finished off the offensive attack with six kills. As a team the Regents had 44 kills, eight aces, 14 block assists, and two block solos.
Rockford returns to action on September 24th for a home conference match against Dominican University at 7:00 p.m. The Dominican game begins a key stretch of five straight home conference games before Rockford goes on the road for its final five games of the season, all of which are conference matches.
