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Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
Cornerstone Advances while Indiana Tech falls in NAIA WVB Opening Round
Posted: Nov 20, 2022

Cornerstone Advances while Indiana Tech falls in NAIA WVB Opening Round

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - (NAIA Results) - Cornerstone and Indiana Tech both entered the Opening Round of the 2022 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship with high hopes. Cornerstone, ranked 20th, was looking for its first trip since 2017 to the finals site in Sioux City, Iowa and Tech wanted its first since 2011.

The Golden Eagles accomplished that goal by eliminating St. Thomas University (Fla.) 3-1 at Mol Arena. Indiana Tech came up short in Freemont, Neb., getting swept by Midland University to end its season at 28-8.

CU (34-3) now turns to the action at the final site inside the Tyson Events Center with three days of pool play from November 30 – December 2. The top team in each three-team pool will advance to the elimination bracket on Saturday, December 3, the semifinals will be played on Monday, December 5 and the national champion will be crowned Tuesday, December 6 with the first serve set for 7 p.m. CST on ESPN3.

Midland (Neb.) def. Indiana Tech, 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-19)
Midland limited Tech to .151 hitting on the day, countering with a .327 percentage of its own. Despite the hitting disparity, Tech hung around with a solid defensive effort that produced 13 total blocks and 41 digs. Midland also gave up 10 points in the form of service errors. Noelle VanOort was the lone Tech player with double-digit kills, as she finished with 12, to go along with 11 digs for a double-double. Andrea Schriver and Kelsey Schaldenbrand shared setting duties as they have all season, dishing 16 and 13 assists, respectively. Jacey Blust matched VanOort's 11 digs, while both Havilyn Cummins and Taylor Sorg were part of three blocks on the afternoon.

Cornerstone def. St. Thomas (Fla.), 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-19)
After a bit of a slow start, Cornerstone responded with three straight set victories to defeat St. Thomas. The Golden Eagles dropped the first set as St. Thomas took advantage of costly errors. CU bounced back in the second set as Aubrey Lenz dominated at the service line, recording three consecutive service aces to spark a 5-0 run and put the set out of reach. The next two sets also went Cornerstone's way as the Golden Eagles never trailed. Aubrey recorded a match-high five service aces and Kaylee Dykema had 12 kills. Patsy Morris led the defense with 29 digs while Rylie Walters and Kylie Barron combined for five blocks.