ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst University volleyball team extended its winning streak to seven after defeating Coe College and Alma College on the first night of the Elmhurst Invitational.
 
Elmhurst (8-6) outlasted Coe 25-10, 22-25, 26-24, 23-25, 15-8 in its opening match of the day. The Bluejays closed with a three-set sweep (25-16, 25-11, 25-11) over Alma College.
 
ELMHURST 3, COE 2 – The Bluejays opened the tournament with a thrilling five-set victory over Coe.


Elmhurst rolled to the opening set win at 25-10 only to see Coe answer back and take the second at 25-22.
 
The Bluejays trailed for much of the third set, falling behind 20-12 before mounting a furious comeback. Elmhurst trailed 21-16 at faced three set points at 24-21, but the Bluejays closed with five straight points to take the set 26-24 and go in front 2-1.

Coe jumped out to a big lead again in the fourth set, opening up a 16-9 advantage before Elmhurst raced back with a 12-3 run to move in front 21-19. The score was knotted at 22-22 before Coe closed with a 3-1 run to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
 
Elmhurst led from wire-to-wire in the fifth. The Bluejays scored the first three points and never looked back, racing out to a 9-2 cushion before coasting to the 15-8 victory
 
The Bluejays hit .209 for the match with 71 kills and 28 errors in 206 attempts. The Bluejays dominated at the net, finishing the night with 15 total blocks.
 
Jada Wiley pounded down a season-high 18 kills while adding two blocks. Taylor Zurliene added 14 kills and 24 digs while Emily Duis finished with 3 kills and a team-leading nine blocks. Katelyn Bower added 10 blocks and five blocks while Elise Rossing added nine kills and four blocks. Erin Murray totaled a match-high 49 assists while Valerie Thomas led the team in digs with 29. Emily Finkbeiner added 24 digs for the Bluejays.
 
Gracie Urbatsch led Coe with 15 kills while Kate Tidman added 14. Madi Parson added 30 digs and nine kills for the Kohawks.
 
ELMHURST 3, ALMA 0 – Elmhurst wrapped up day one with a 25-16, 25-11, 25-11 victory over Alma College in the nightcap.
 
With the first set tied at 9-all, the Bluejays responded with an 8-3 run to open up a 17-12 cushion before pulling away for the 25-16 win. Elmhurst jumped out to an early 10-3 lead in the second set and quickly pulled away for the 25-11 win. The third set proved to be a continuation of the second as the Bluejays started quickly, building a 12-5 cushion before closing out the set and the match at 25-11.
 
Elmhurst hit .261 for the contest with 42 kills and 1 errors in 111 attempts. The Bluejays added six blocks in the victory.
 
Wiley paced the Bluejays in the win, finishing with 14 kills. Duis added nine kills and four blocks while Zurliene added eight kills and nine digs. Peyton Ceh served up four aces and added seven digs for the Bluejays. Murray finished with a team-leading 27 assists while Kellyn Kennedy totaled 11. Thomas led the team in digs with 14 while Finkbeiner added 13.
 
Elmhurst takes on Kalamazoo College and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls tomorrow (October 2).