ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst University women's volleyball team downed Augustana College, in five sets to claim their first CCIW victory of the 2024 season.

Elmhurst (8-8, 1-4 CCIW) tallied double-digit kills in each set, scoring a season-high 72 kills on the night on 64 assists, helping the Jays to their first conference win of the season.

Augustana (7-11, 1-3 CCIW) out-blocked Elmhurst by three blocks, but hit just .173 and had 42 kills on the evening.

Elise Rossing led all players with 20 kills on the night, while Kali Phillips contributed 16 to the Elmhurst cause, and Keely Larson tallied 11. Kellyn Kennedy nearly contributed a double-double with 32 assists and seven digs, while Alexa Bueser added 27 assists and three aces.

On the defensive side, three Jays tallied double-digit digs, with Alexis Casey leading the way with 13, while Jada Wiley and Savannah Davis added 12 and 10 digs, respectively. Bryanna Stanford added two solo and two assisted blocks for the Bluejays.

Elmhurst dominated set one, quickly building a lead and taking the opener, 25-11, but struggled to continue the momentum in set two, falling 25-20 to knot the match at one set a piece.

It was more the same in set three as the opener for Elmhurst, as the Jays cruised to a 25-14 win to take the match lead, but Augustana would not go out quietly. In set four, the Vikings would take an early 9-3 lead, and would maintain that lead until the score moved to 19-16 in favor of the visitors. From there, the two teams traded runs, with Elmhurst grabbing a slim 20-19 lead before Augie grabbed it back, 22-20. After the Bluejays fought off a set point, the Vikings took advantage of a service error and put away set four, 26-24, to force a decisive fifth set.

In the fifth, the teams would begin to trade points until a three-point burst from the Vikings put them ahead, 5-3. After a pair of service errors and a Viking kill, the score stood knotted at eight-all after the side change. Led by a balanced attack from Ashley Clardy, Rossing, and tough serving from Elmhurst, the home team would take seven of the final 11 points to win set five, 15-12, and the match, three sets to two.

UP NEXT

The Bluejays are set to host five visiting schools for the Elmhurst University Volleyball Invitational this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11-12, inside R.A. Faganel Hall. Action begins at 2:00 pm Friday afternoon, with Elmhurst serving as the nightcap with a match against Wartburg at 7pm.

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