MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Rockford University women's volleyball team played its fourth match away from the Seaver Center on Wednesday night when the ladies hit the road to take on the Mount Mary University Blue Angels. Rockford entered the evening looking to win its seventh straight match against Mount Mary dating back to the 2011 season. Unfortunately it was not the Regents' night as the Blue Angels won 3-0 in straight sets.
In each of the three sets Rockford got off to a slow start and was forced to play catch-up. In the opening set, the Regents fell behind 5-0 but were able to fight their way back to tie the set on multiple occasions with the last coming at 8-8. The score remained close for the remainder of the set as Rockford trailed by just a single point, 20-19, down the stretch. Unfortunately Mount Mary closed the set strong with a 5-2 run to take a 1-0 lead. The second set was nearly identical to the first as Rockford again dug itself an early 6-1 hole. However, the Regents fought back and used an 8-2 run capped off by a Liberty Hartman (Freeport, Ill.) kill to take their first lead of the match. Unfortunately, the Blue Angels answered right back with a 9-2 run of their own to retake the lead and eventually grab a 2-0 advantage. The third set once again got off to rocky start for the Regents as Mount Mary jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead. Despite the slow start, Rockford did not give up and continued to fight and claw its way back into the set. The Regents would eventually tie it at 13-13 off a service ace from Kelsi Scott (Cornell, Ill.). The set remained close down the stretch, but unfortunately Rockford was never able to take the lead and lost the match in straight sets.
Senior Liberty Hartman and sophomore Alex Storey (Dexter, Mich.) played well in the loss. Storey led the Regents with 14 digs and tied for the team-high with 5 kills. Hartman recorded 13 digs and also tied for the team-high with 5 kills.
The RU women's volleyball team returns to the court next Tuesday, September 13 at Dominican University. The match has a scheduled start time of 7:00 PM.
