Pride wrap up weekend in Indiana with pair of wins

ST. MARY OF THE WOODS, Ind. - Wrapping up a wild weekend out east, the Clarke University women's volleyball team would pick up two more wins at the Showdown at the Woods Tournament hosted by St. Mary of the Woods College on Saturday.

The Pride were able to pick up wins against Alice Lloyd College in a 25-14, 25-21, 25-8 sweep then pull off a reverse sweep against Goshen College by set scores of 19-25, 26-28, 25-14, 25-20, and 15-9 to end the weekend 3-1.

Both matches saw their own starring performances for CU as in the opener, Maya Watters was a consistent force on the attack to finish with a match-high 10 kills while Rachel Haubert and Mattie Dafforn each added seven kills of their own with the trio all hitting for a percentage above .350 over the three sets.

In the weekend finale, Amelia Driver and Keely Colyer stepped up to each produce 14 kills to lead the Pride while both Dafforn and Haubert provided supporting roles on the attack again with the senior, Haubert, providing an 11-kill, 23-dig double-double, then the sophomore, Dafforn finishing with 13 kills on 40 swings.

Providing consistency in specific spots for Clarke on the day were the setting tandem of Kortney Harms and Mia Jaeger as Harms finished as the All-Tournament selection for the Pride adding a 15-assist, 11-dig double-double against Alice Lloyd then following it up with 26 assists and 14 digs against Goshen while Jaeger finished with 34 total assists, 11 against ALC then 23 against the Maple Leafs.

Kelsey NeCollins made an impact on the day as well, providing strong defense in the middle to finish each match with six block assists, including the match sealing block against Goshen as she and Driver teamed up to reject the final swing for Goshen in the fifth set to clinch the 15th point.

CU's defensive efforts didn't just come at the net as the previously mentioned dig totals for Harms and Haubert were high in each match but also libero Rylie Bohanan continued her strong start to the 2024 campaign with 31 total digs on the day including a match-high 25 digs in the five-set win over Goshen.

Now sitting at six wins over their first eight matches for the first time since 2019, the Pride will return to their home court in the Kehl Center for their second home tournament of the 2024 season when they host four visiting teams on Sept. 6-7 starting with a pair of matches on Friday evening against Governors State and York.