Quincy, Ill. - The QU women's volleyball team bounced back from a rare loss to Rockhurst last week in a big way on Friday evening (Nov. 8) in Pepsi Arena, winning a duel of nationally ranked squads in four sets (25-23, 25-20,16-25, 25-15) over the number 18 team in Division II and GLVC foe, the Tritons of University of Missouri-St. Louis.

With the victory, the Hawks move to 22-3 on the season and 9-1 in league play, sitting atop the GLVC standings. 

Set One 

Quincy got off to a fast start, doubling up the Tritons to a 10-5 score to open the set. Later in the set at 10-7, two and four-point runs pushed the advantage up to eight at 16-8 on kills from Susanna Beretti and Erin Matzke along with an ace from Elena Kasavica, a Luna Van Baars block and UMSL errors.

The Hawks maintained a safe lead late into the set until Missouri-St. Louis used three and four-point runs to erase the deficit and pull within a point at 23-22. 

QU traded the final three points of the set, getting a pair of clutch kills from Emma Wijnbergen to close out with a 25-23 win in the first set. 

Set Two 

The second set opened in strikingly similar fashion to the first, finding the Hawks with the early 10-5 advantage. The Tritons quickly worked their way back into the set, taking six of the next eight points to narrow the margin back to a point at 12-11. 

UMSL was able to even the tally at the 15-15 mark before six of the next seven points went in favor of QU to bust open a 21-16 edge heading down the stretch.

Missouri-St. Louis pulled back within three at 23-20 before a Wijnbergen kill and Janelle Pye-Blacknard ace sealed a 25-20 victory in set two. 

Set Three 

The Tritons started off the third set taking six of the first nine points, before going on to press the advantage to six at 14-8 later in the set. 

Quincy was able to pull within five points, but never any closer as UMSL went on to take the set 25-16 and stave off the sweep. 

Set Four 

A trio of two-point runs opened up a 6-2 lead for QU before a five-point run a point later blew the set wide open at 11-3. Three Van Baars kills, a Wijnbergen ace and a Tritons error fueled the Quincy run. 

It was pretty smooth sailing for the remainder of the set as the Hawks pressed the advantage to as many as 11 points at 23-12, before closing out a convincing 25-15 winner on a Beretti kill to take the match 3-1. 

Stat Leaders: 
18 Kills - Emma Wijnbergen
50 Assists, 1 Block, 2 Aces - Elena Kasavica
1 Block - Zeynep Cetin, Luna Van Baars
14 Digs - Janelle Pye-Blacknard

Next Up

The Hawks are back in action tomorrow (Nov. 9), hosting the Bearcats of McKendree for the final home match of the season. First serve is slated for 3:00 PM with Senior Day festivities taking place before the match.