QUINCY, Ill. - The Quincy University women's volleyball team held their annual Breast Cancer Awareness Match on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 4) against William Jewell College.  QU wore pink jerseys, played with pink volleyballs, and dressed Pepsi Arena in pink.  There were various fundraisers throughout the match to raise donations for the Blessing Cancer Research Center.  With all of the other activities around the event, it would be easy to forget that there was volleyball to be played.  The Hawks did not forget.  In fact, the Hawks played some of their best volleyball of the season.  QU topped WJC 3-0 and hit .340 with 44 kills.  The Hawks also had five aces and 44 digs.

Gianna Lincoln tied the first set at 8-8 with a kill for the Hawks (3-13, 1-8 GLVC).  That gave the ball to Jessica Licurgo for the serve.  She fired two aces right down the middle at the Cardinal (2-13, 1-8 GLVC) back row.  The next serve was ricocheted back over the net to Samantha Haegele who turned it right around for a quick kill.  After a William Jewell timeout, the Hawks rattled off three more points.  Licurgo served another ace to give the Hawks a 15-8 lead.  After eight points, Licurgo finally relinquished the serve with a service error. 

The Hawks would use that momentum to cruise to a 25-20 first set win.  QU hit .321 with 14 kills in the first set.

With the second set tied at 10-10, the Hawks scored four straight points including kills by Emily Lindemulder, Jessica Licurgo, and Bekah Raebel.  The Cardinals pulled back within one point at 23-22.  Jessica Licurgo recorded two kills with a Cardinal point in between to give the Hawks a 25-23 second set win.

The Hawks and Cardinals both had their best set of the match in the second set.  The Hawks hit .357 with 18 kills.  The Cardinals hit .306 with 14 kills in the second set.

The Hawks took an early 10-2 lead in the third set.  The Cardinals scored seven of nine points late in the set, but it was too little too late.  The Hawks finished with a 25-20 third set to sweep the match.

The Hawks hit .333 with 12 kills in the final set.

Carly Schmitt led the Hawks with 11 kills in the match.  Emily Lindemulder and Jessica Licurgo each had nine kills.  Licurgo also had three aces.  Samantha Haegele recorded seven kills and led the team with 13 digs.  Miranda Rodriguez led the team with 21 assists. 

The Hawks will travel to Rolla, Mo. next Friday (Oct. 10) to the campus of Missouri S&T.  The match is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.