ASHLAND, Wis. - The Rockford University women's volleyball team traveled to Northern Wisconsin on Friday for the start of a two-day tournament hosted by Northland College. The Regents are slated to play two matches each day opening with Silver Lake and Northland on Friday before wrapping up their trip with Finlandia and Bethany Lutheran on Saturday. Rockford got things off on the right foot winning its first match 3-1 over Silver Lake before suffering a 3-0 setback to Northland later in the day.
Rockford played very well in its opening match disposing of Silver Lake in four sets, 25-14, 15-25, 25-13 and 25-11, to earn its first win of the season. The Regents used a balanced attack offensively as Emily Johannes (Eau Claire, Wis.), Maddison Hiland (Bellevue, Iowa), Kaylynne Terry (Steator, Ill.), Alex Storey (Dexter, Mich.) and Jessica Diaz (Bolingbrook, Ill.) all had at least 6 kills. Johannes led the charge with her first double-double of the season, tallying a match-high 11 kills and 12 digs. Hiland was extremely efficient attacking the ball as she recorded 8 kills on just 15 attempts for an impressive .400 hitting percentage. Story and Terry each had 7 kills apiece, with Story also adding 8 digs and 3 aces. Diaz played perhaps her best match of the season finishing with at the time a season-high 6 kills and 5 digs. Sophomore setter Kayla Barthels (Fort Worth, Tex.) continues to impress as she finished the match with a season-high 35 assists. Defensively Jennifer Quintas (Rockford, Ill.) turned in a stellar performance recording a team-high 13 digs.
Following an exciting win in its first match of the day, Rockford hoped to make it two straight when the Regents squared off against host Northland College. Unfortunately it was the LumberJills who won a closely contested match 25-19, 25-17 and 25-23 in straight sets. The Regents were led at the net by the duo of Jessica Diaz and Kaylynne Terry. Diaz finished the match with a team-high 9 kills and only 1 error on 22 attempts for a solid .364 hitting percentage. Terry also struck the ball well as she tallied 6 kills with just 1 error on 13 attempts for a team-high .385 hitting percentage. Setter Kayla Barthels narrowly missed her first double-double of the season recording 21 assists and 9 digs. Defensively the Regents were again led by Jennifer Quintas who had a team-high 14 digs.
The RU women's volleyball team returns to the court on Saturday, September 9 for its final two matches at the Northland College Tournament. Rockford opens with Finlandia University at 2 PM before finishing with Bethany Lutheran at 6 PM.
