Waukesha, Wis. – The Carroll University volleyball team celebrated its two seniors tonight in Van Male Field House,
Sam Penzkowski and assistant coach
Rachel Noonan. The Pioneers fought hard, but could not come away with the win, falling 1-3 (21-25, 25-27, 25-23, 24-26).
Ashley Konecki put up a season best 18 points with 15 kills, 11 digs, two aces, and an assist.
Michelle Maraist notched a career-best 4 total blocks,
Emily Schliesman added 13 assists, while
Emily Konop tied her season-high with 18 digs.
The Pioneers (0-7, 0-7 CCIW) finished with the most kills in a game this season with 40, with just 19 errors. Six blocks matches another season-best as well. Carroll was just edged out on total digs, 49-55. Both teams tied with nine aces apiece. The Pios started its best attacking set right out of the gate with a .200 hitting percentage with 12 kills.
Katie Jensen led things off right away with a kill on a
Kelly Reynolds assist. Jensen recorded two more kills to bring the Pios to a score of 3-4.
Sam Penzkowski added a kill of her own from Konop. Three straight Konecki Kills and a Vikings attack error cut the lead to 18-20. Facing match point, Penzkowski gave Carroll another point, but Carroll surrendered a kill to drop set one.
After starting set five down 0-5, Carroll jumped out on an 8-2 run to take a one-point lead, fueled by two aces from Konop and another from Konecki. Konops' third service ace of the set cut a North Park lead to 16-18. Two
Isabela Valdez aces tied the match at 23 all, and Jensen soon tied it at 25-25 with a kill. A Carroll service error and a North Park kill ended set number two.
The Pios once again started the next set hot, cashing in on kills from Maraist and Penzkowski. The Vikings took a five-point lead midway through the set to go up 20-15. Down 22-18, Carroll stormed back on a 7-1 run that won the third set 25-23. Kills by Penzkowski, Maraist, and Jensen aided the run.
A back and forth beginning ended in favor of North Park in set four as they took an 8-4 lead. Carroll soon ripped off seven straight points with Maraist collecting two blocks, Konecki and Jensen adding kills, and Valdez notching a service ace. North Park responded with a 9-2 run to take the lead back to 18-14.
Sofia Camacho helped cut the lead to one with her kill from Schliesman. Konecki added three more kills to her total to keep the Viking lead at one. Three bad sets by North Park tied the match at 24-24, but a Pioneer bad set and kill by North Park ended the match.
The Pioneers finished 8
th of 8 teams participating this season in the CCIW. Penzkowski finishes her career with 180 kills, 302 digs, and 229.5 total points. Noonan finished her career with 312 kills, 265 blocks, and 511.0 total points.
