HAMMOND, Ind. - Quincy volleyball dropped its opening match of the Midwest Region Crossover tournament on Friday morning, falling in straight sets to Ohio Dominican by scores of 19–25, 22–25, and 24–26 inside the Hammond Sportsplex. The Hawks battled but could not finish sets down the stretch, as Ohio Dominican controlled key stretches in all three frames to hand Quincy its third loss in the last four matches.
Quincy traded points early with ODU before the Panthers built a 21–11 advantage behind a 10–2 run midway through the frame. The Hawks fought back with late kills from
Erin Matzke and
Selin Turgut, but the deficit was too large to overcome as Ohio Dominican closed the opener, 25–19.
The second set was a tighter battle, with Quincy trailing just 14–13 before a four-point ODU push opened separation at 19–15. Quincy's offense responded as
Susanna Beretti and Turgut pulled the Hawks within 24–22, but the Panthers held firm and iced set two with a kill to take a 25–22 win and a 2–0 match lead.
The Hawks played their best volleyball to start the third, racing out to a 10–2 lead behind a
Lilly Marth service ace and steady sideout execution. ODU slowly erased the deficit, tying the set at 14–14 before the two sides traded points deep into the frame. Quincy held a late edge at 22–20 and 23–22, but the Panthers scored four of the final five points to steal the set, 26–24, and complete the sweep.
The Hawks finished the match with 38 kills on 111 attempts for a .189 hitting percentage, falling to 2–4 this season when hitting under .200. The team tallied 46.0 points in the match, their lowest single-match total of the season, and committed six reception errors, continuing a trend in each of their five defeats, where six or more reception miscues have occurred. Ohio Dominican hit .229 on the day and controlled the net with nine blocks compared to Quincy's four, while the teams tied in digs with 53 apiece.
Individually, Turgut led Quincy with 11 kills and added seven digs, while Beretti contributed 10 kills and a team-high 14 digs in a strong all-around effort. Matzke was a standout in the middle with eight kills on 12 swings, hitting .667. Setter
Elena Kasavica recorded her 12th double-double with 28 assists and 10 digs while also tallying two total blocks. Marth anchored the defense with 11 digs, surpassing 200 career digs in the process.
Quincy will look to bounce back later today, taking on Northern Michigan at 4:30 PM on Court 4 at the Hammond Sportsplex & Community Center.
