ELGIN, Ill. - Down two games to none, the Judson University volleyball team battled back to take a 3-2 win over the University of St. Francis (21-9/7-1) to give them their first CCAC loss of the year. St. Francis took the first two games, 25-16, 25-16, before Judson won the final three 25-18, 25-23, 15-12. Judson is now 3-3 in the CCAC and 6-17 overall.
The match was one of the best for Judson this season as it was its fifth match this season to go five games while also being the second match in a row with five games. Judson fell to Cardinal Stritch on Tuesday, October 13th, 3-2.
With her fifth double-double in a row and 10th of the season, Carissa Oelke (Oregon, IL/Oregon HS) had 12 kills and 17 digs. Alesha Wyman (Delavan, WI/Trinity Christian College) finished with 11 kills and six block assists while Karissa Groharing (Byron, IL/Byron HS) recorded nine kills and seven block assists. Carly Campioni came away with 27 assists while Deb Leganski led the team with 28 digs. Judson finished hitting .156 overall in the match with their best performance coming in game five with a .241 percentage.
The first two matches were rough for Judson as they fell in both of them, 25-16, 25-16. In game one, it was tied at 13 when St. Francis won 11 of the next 13 points for a 24-15 advantage. They then took the win on a Kristee Conrad kill. Game two was much the same as game one as St. Francis took a five-point lead, 10-5, and never looked back. Judson came within two, 14-12, but did not get the breaks they needed to stay in the match.
It was game three that the momentum switched ways and favored Judson. Judson jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead with two points coming from Groharing kills. St. Francis worked back to take a 13-11 lead only to see Judson come crawling back into the game. Judson scored nine of the next 10 points for a commanding 20-14 lead. In the run, Danielle Dull (Waupun, WI/Central WI Christian HS), Leganski, Wyman, and Oelke all had kills. St. Francis did not recover from that run and fell, 25-18.
Game four was the turning point for Judson as they kept their composure to tie the match at two games each. Judson took an early 8-4 lead only to see St. Francis tie it at nine on an Ashley Richards kill. Groharing gave Judson the lead back and the Eagles never relinquished it again. It was tight until the end as the game was tied at 20 and 21. After the 21 tie, Oelke put Judson up by one with another kill and then a St. Francis attack error put Judson with 23 points. St. Francis came within one with a Jazzmyne Robbins kill but in the end it was St. Francis' attack errors that gave Judson points 24 and 25 for the two-point win.
The most exciting game of the night came in the final. Judson hit their best of the night at .241 while St. Francis hit their worst at .065. The game was tied at three when St. Francis scored three of the next four points. A Robbins' kill made it 6-4 and Judson took a time out to stop the momentum. Judson came out of the time out and scored the next three points to take a 7-6 lead. From there on until the game was tied at nine, they both exchanged points.
Two straight attack errors by St. Francis once again put Judson upfront, 11-9. Judson never lost the lead after that point. St. Francis tied it at 11 but Judson finished off the match by scoring the final four of five points for the win. Two straight kills by Oelke made it 13-11 and another attack error gave Judson the three-point lead, 14-11. Kyrsten Becker had a kill to bring the score to 14-12 but the match then ended on a St. Francis attack error that give Judson the win, 15-12.
