Tigers Shut Out The Fighting Bees to Conclude Road Trip

DAVENPORT, Iowa—In its third road match of the season, the Olivet Nazarene University women's volleyball team traveled to Lee Lohman Arena to face off against the St. Ambrose University Fighting Bees on Thursday night. The Tigers swept the Fighting Bees in the match, 3-0.

In the first set, the Fighting Bees scored 10 of the first 17 points. During that stretch, Sutton Bate (SO/Flushing, Mich.), Rachel Newport (JR/Avon, Ind.), and Becca Bell (JR/Salem, Wis.) each amassed two kills. With St. Ambrose up 15-9, the Tigers marked six of the next seven points moving the score 17-15. The rest of the first set was back-and-forth as the Tigers came back and won the first set, 27-25.

First Set: ONU 27, SAU 25

Just like the first set, the Tigers had to come from behind to win the set. Down by as much as three points at 14-11, The Tigers saw kills from Carleigh Johnson (JR/Kankakee, Ill.) and Bell to move the score to 15-14, Fighting Bees. The two teams played the second set close until the Tigers took over at the end. The Tigers capitalized on Fighting Bee errors, down the stretch, and won the second set, 25-21. In the second set, the Tigers hit a match-best .467.

Second Set: ONU 25, SAU 21

In the third set, the Tigers took over. Just like the end of the second set, the Tigers took advantage of errors by St. Ambrose and tallied kills from Katarina Nikolic (JR/Belgrade, Serbia) and Newport. The Tigers led third set, 7-2, early in the third set. After the Fighting Bees notched three straight points, the Tigers roared back and scored 10 of the next 11 points, highlighted by a service aces from Brianna Cannon (SO/San Diego, Calif.) and Newport along with kills from Johnson, Nikolic, and Newport making the score 17-6.

The Tigers only surrendered 15 points in the third set and took the set 25-15 and took the match in straight sets.

Third Set: ONU 25, SAU 15

Game Vitals

Finals: First Set: ONU 27, SAU 25 | Second Set: ONU 25, SAU 21 | Third Set: ONU 25, SAU 15

Records: Olivet Nazarene 3-0 (3-0 CCAC), St. Ambrose 7-4 (2-2 CCAC)

Location: Lee Lohman Arena | Davenport, Iowa | St. Ambrose University

Quick Hits

• Bell led the Tigers with 12 kills, while Nikolic and Newport followed with 9 and 8 kills, respectively.
• Janelle Skinner (JR/Bolingbrook, Ill.) led the Tigers with 37 assists.
• Skinner, Nikolic, and Kaitlyn McMahan (JR/Grant Park, Ill.) led the Tigers with 11 digs apiece.

What's Next?

The Tigers open their home portion of their schedule on Tuesday, February 16 welcoming the newest member of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) the Lincoln College Lynx. First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside McHie Arena

--ONU—

*Contact: Sam Viebrock, Sports Information Director, stviebrock@olivet.edu