Springfield, Ill. – The Quincy University women's volleyball team capped off a perfect weekend at the Illinois National Guard UIS Invitational, defeating Central Missouri 3-1 (25-11, 18-25, 25-19, 25-20) on Saturday to sweep the tournament and move to 3-0 on the season.
The Hawks came out on fire in the opening set, scoring the first seven points behind the serve of
Elena Kasavica, who delivered two service aces in the stretch, forcing an early timeout from the Jennies. Quincy's balanced attack kept the momentum rolling, as the team hit .500 with 12 kills on 24 attempts and no errors to take the set comfortably, 25-11.
Central Missouri responded in set two, finding its rhythm offensively while the Hawks stumbled. The Jennies hit .355 with just three errors, while Quincy committed seven errors and hit only .152. A mid-set four-point run gave UCM a 17-10 lead, and despite a late push from QU, the Hawks fell 25-18.
Quincy bounced back in set three, jumping ahead 4-1 before the teams traded points to tie it at 9-9. The Hawks then went on a 6-1 run, highlighted by two kills from
Selin Turgut in her season debut, to gain control. After UCM closed the gap, Quincy finished strong, scoring eight of the final 11 points, capped by a kill from
Susanna Beretti to take the set 25-19.
Set four was tightly contested early, with UCM holding a slim 12-11 lead. The Hawks answered with a decisive seven-point run on seven straight kills, three from Turgut, two from
Janelle Pye-Blacknard, and two from
Erin Matzke. Quincy never looked back, closing out the match 25-20 to secure the 3-1 win.
The Hawks finished with 58 kills, led by Pye-Blacknard and Beretti with 16 apiece, while Matzke added 13. Kasavica continued to showcase her all-around play with 49 assists and four service aces, as Quincy out-aced UCM 6-1. On the defensive end, four Hawks reached double-digit digs, with libero Lily Marth leading the way with 15.
Quincy will return to action on Friday, Sept. 12, at the Maverick Invite in Mankato, Minn., where they will face Northern State at 2:00 PM before squaring off with host Minnesota State, Mankato at 6:00 PM.
