WAUKESHA, WI - Carroll Volleyball opened the doors of Van Male Fieldhouse for 2024-25 in a big way on Wednesday night, picking up a victory over Wisconsin Lutheran College 3-1. The Battle for I-94 was a closely contested match, being determined by scores of 29-27, 21-25, 26-24, 25-20. The victory was the fifth-straight for Carroll (9-2, 0-0 CCIW) and fourth-straight over Wisconsin Lutheran (3-4, 0-0 NACC) dating back to 2022. 

Offensively, freshman Lizzy WIlliams posted a season high 12 kills and a .296 attack percentage. Peyton Frost and Bronwyn Rowse were close behind, both contributing 11 kills in the match. Payton Depies led the team with 24 assists. Maggie McGough and Taylor Raley both had an ace to help the team to a .930 service percentage. Defensively, Raley led the way with 22 digs and Rowse and Rebekah Andreae both had 4 blocks. 

SET 1 

Both teams showed tremendous fight in the opening set, with neither team separating by more than four points throughout the set. Carroll stole the first set in extra points by a score of 29-27, making a comeback from down 10-14 at one point before going on a 10-2 run.  Williams registered five kills and a .556 attack percentage.  

SET 2 

Wisconsin Lutheran withstood the first punch and came back in the second set, delivering a blow of their own to pick up the second set victory. WLC got up big, leading 16-8 at one point, before Carroll dug in to go on a 12-2 run before WLC closed the set out. Frost had a hot second set with six kills and .273 attack percentage. Ashley Miller led the Pioneers in assists, posting seven in the 2nd frame.  

SET 3 

Continuing the theme of the night, Carroll regrouped to secure a win in the third set, gutting out a 26-24 victory. Rowse had three kills and three digs in the set. Depies contributed six more assists, while Raley flew around to tally seven more digs in the third frame. Kylie Wittnebel, Rowse, Williams, and Andreae all registered block assists in the frame as well. 

SET 4 

Carroll put the final nail in the coffin in the fourth set, winning 25-20. Early momentum swings were the defining factor in the last set, with WLC going up 8-4 to start before the Pioneers responded with an 6-2 run of their own. From there, the two teams traded points and mini-runs until Carroll was able to close the match out, ending with an 11-6 run. Rowse, Frost, and Williams all tallied three kills in the final frame, with Depies and Miller contributing six and five assists, respectively. 

Carroll returns to action with a four game slate in the Red Hawk Invitational, hosted by Ripon College. The first game of the tournament will be against St. Mary's (MN) at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 13, followed by College of St. Scholastica at 6 p.m..