HAMMOND, Ind. – The women's volleyball team closed out it's weekend at the Midwest Regional Crossover facing off with Ashland University, leaders atop the Great Midwest Athletic Conference standings.

This match was a pivotal one for both squads for more reasons than one. The Eagles lead the GMAC table at a perfect 11-0 record while the Hawks are one of only two one-loss teams in the GLVC and hold a win over the other (UMSL).

A win would not only have possible implications on future regional standings, but also break a 15-match winning streak for the Eagles. The Hawks were able to dig deep and find that win in five sets (25-23, 15-25, 12-25, 25-20, 15-10) giving them the weekend sweep.

Set 1
Quincy jumped out to a 2-0 lead off an error from AU and one of Emily Rehagens team leading 17 kills to open the match. The squads traded runs back and forth early on and well through the middle of the set all the way down to the end.

A five-point run from the Eagles early found them with a 6-3 lead. QU put together a four-point rally shortly after to take a 10-8 lead thanks to two kills from Mattison Norris and two more Ashland errors.

Later in the set, holding an 18-15 lead, AU struggled to contain its errors, committing four of them in five plays to draw things at 19-19. Knotted at 23-23 down the stretch, the Hawks rallied in the crunch time and closed out the first set a 25-23 victory.

Set 2
The second set was very tightly contested through the 9-9 mark with eight ties and four lead changes. Past the 9-9 draw, the Eagles put together an 11-point run with the help of six QU errors during the rally to open a 20-9 lead and put the Hawks out of reach early in the set. QU put up a .029 hitting percentage with 10 errors in the 25-15 set loss.
 
Set 3
Although the outcome of the third set was like that of second, how it occurred was a little different. From the get-go, the set was all Ashland. Quincy hit for a negative percentage with more errors than kills when the set concluded.

The Eagles smothered the Hawks early taking an 8-1 lead. After surrendering another point, AU won four more to stretch the lead to double digits at 12-2. QU showed some life later in the set scratching across some tallies of their own, but the early deficit was too much to comeback from in a 25-12 loss.

Set 4
Following two sets that were far from the norm this year, coach Mark Jones squad had its back against the wall down 2-1. Running out of time, the Hawks had to start making things happen to keep the match alive, and make things happen they did.

Fresh off two set routes and looking to close out the match, the Eagles took the initiative early to open a 4-1 advantage. Quincy worked their way back into the lead later at 6-5 off a kill from Emma Wijnbergen, an error and a service ace from America Galvan.

Trailing once again further along in the set at 11-9, QU rallied for five straight to take a 14-11 lead capped off by a kill from Alyssa Grimm on a dish from Makayla Knoblauch, one of her team leading 44 assists. This proved to be the turning point as the Hawks would not trail again in the 25-20 victory to force a decisive fifth set.
 
Set 5
In the final set when it mattered most, the Hawks showed up, converting their highest hitting percentage of the match at .357, also committing their fewest errors of the match with just one in the final frame.

Quincy jumped out to an early lead in the final set and never looked back. Knotted at 3-3, the Hawks rallied for four straight points on two kills from Wijnbergen, an error and another ace from Galvan to take a 7-3 advantage.

Past that point the Eagles never drew closer than three points as QU clawed back from down a set to win the deciding frame 15-10 and take the match 3-2 also snapping Ashland's 15 match win streak in the process.
 
The Hawks will be in action once again next Friday (Oct. 21) at 6:00 p.m. in Kirksville to take on the Bulldogs of Truman State University for a GLVC conference matchup before traveling to Liberty on Saturday (Oct. 22) for a 3:00 p.m. date with William Jewell.
 
Match Leaders
Emily Rehagen: 17 kills
America Galvan: 25 digs
Makayla Knoblauch: 44 assists