Women's Volleyball | 3/15/2021 1:16:00 PM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Golden Eagles begin their longest home stand of the season this week with three home matches vs. rival Aquinas, Siena Heights, and Indiana Tech. The week opens with rival receiving votes Aquinas before taking on Siena Heights and Indiana Tech over the weekend with all matches inside Mol Arena. CU sits at 14-2, 10-1 WHAC with nine regular season games remaining as the team is in search for their first WHAC Regular Season Title since the 2016 season.
Opponent: #RV Aquinas
Date: Tuesday, March 16
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich. (Mol Arena)
Live Video
Live Stats
Opponent: Siena Heights
Date: Friday, March 19
Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich. (Mol Arena)
Live Video
Live Stats
Opponent: Indiana Tech
Date: Saturday, March 20
Time 1 p.m.
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich. (Mol Arena)
Live Video
Live Stats
Friendship Sports BOGO Night
This Tuesday, Cornerstone will be hosting their second Friendship Sports International BOGO Night and first with the men's and women's volleyball programs. The event, that has been facilitated by Cornerstone professor Matt Wallace, is designed to serve the Grand Rapids communities homeless population by providing socks and shirts for Mel Trotter Ministries. How it works, is during the event, CU will have Sky Outfitters designer socks and BOGO Night T-Shirts available for sale. For every purchase of socks, a pair of wool socks will be donated to Mel Trotter. For every shirt purchased a white undershirt will be donated to Mel Trotter as well. For those who can't be in attendance on Tuesday you can also participate online at - https://www.friendshipsports.net/bogo.
COVID-19 Fan Policy
Cornerstone has opened up the restrictions slightly in accordance to the MDHHS policies when it comes to indoor fans headed into this weekend. CU will continue to allow four guest pass members for CU athletes, is adding two away guest list members for opponents, and sticking with 25 students as well as Golden Eagle members being welcome to games. For further information on all of CU's policies, visit the COVID-19 page on cugoldeneagles.com.
Last Week Recap
Cornerstone got back in the win column last week with a pair of WHAC sweeps vs. UNOH and at Rochester. CU improves to 14-2, 10-1 WHAC as they saw senior setter
Kayla Clark surpass a career milestone of 3,000 career assists.
WHAC Outlook
With nine games remaining, Cornerstone sits a half game back from the WHAC Regular Season front runner position as Aquinas who has won 15 straight is 11-1 in WHAC play with their only loss being to CU earlier this season. Outside of Cornerstone and Aquinas, the next closest is Madonna and Indiana Tech who are both 2.5 games back from the lead, making Tuesday's rivalry match worth even more with a potential WHAC Title on the line. CU has won five regular season titles with their last coming in the 2016 season under now Aquinas Head Coach, Ryan Campbell.
Keelean's Career High
After a slow start to the season, sophomore outside
Olivia Keelean erupted for a career high 15 kills and a .538 hitting percentage in the win at Rochester on Saturday afternoon. This was the first time this season that Keelean recorded double-digit kills and is just the third time this season she hit above .300.
Next Nearing Milestones
Senior
Bailey Cummings is the next closest to a career milestone this year for the Golden Eagles, needing just 22 more kills to crack 1,000. Sophomore libero
Patsy Morris continues to get closer to 1,000 career digs as well she has 956 for her career.
Scouting Aquinas
After falling at home to Cornerstone in four sets, Aquinas has rattled off 15 consecutive wins with their last three coming in straight sets to sit at 18-1, 11-1 WHAC on the year. The Saints are powered by a trio of seniors including a pair of middle's in Payton Klein and Kylie Christensen. Klein and Christensen each are great on the block helping AQ averages an NAIA 14th best 2.43 blocks per set. Klein is also a heavy offensive threat, ranking 10th in the NAIA with a hitting percentage of .353. Crawford, the senior setter, is one of the best in the country as well averaging 10.1 assists per game to rank 15th in the NAIA. The biggest surprise to the Aquinas roster however has been the improvement of junior outside hitter Jackie Rozell. Rozell leads the team with 229 kills, while also recording a team second best 35.0 blocks.
Scouting Siena Heights
Siena Heights has played only 12 games this season, all of them in conference, as they have gone 7-5. The team has struggled of late, losing three of their last five matches including being swept by Indiana Tech and a four set loss vs. Madonna. SHU is a very young team with no seniors on the roster and they are led by a junior in Janel Ruhlman who has a team high 118 kills. The Saints are another team that is great on the block, ranking 21st in the NAIA with 2.223 blocks per game, with six athletes who have 20 or more.
Scouting Indiana Tech
After a big slump losing four of five, the Warriors have responded to win three straight headed into the week to sit at 12-6, 9-4 WHAC. IIT is a team that is very scrappy on the defensive end led by Jacey Blust and her 5.98 digs per game. As a team, they average 18.73 digs per game using their athleticism to keep the ball off the floor. On the offensive end, Tech has not had one single standout player as five different players have over 100 kills this season.
