(ST NORBERT COMMUNICATIONS) DE PERE – St. Norbert College maintained its share of first place in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with a 3-1 win over Aurora University at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
The Green Knights (16-12, 9-1 NACC) dropped the first set to Aurora (15-11, 8-2) before rallying to win 24-26, 25-22, 25-22, 25-20.
The first set was tied 12-12 before the Spartans went on a 7-1 run to take a 19-13 lead. St. Norbert trailed 22-17 before mounting a furious 7-1 run to take a 24-23 lead. The Spartans marshaled a rally of their own to score the last three points and win the deuce set for a 1-0 lead. Things looked dire in Set 2 for St. Norbert, which trailed 15-8. The host went on a 9-2 run to pull even at 17-17. Aurora would take a brief lead at 18-17 until there were four ties the rest of the set, the last at 22-22. An Alli Clark kill, a block by Mari Szews and Heidi Colburn and an Alyssa Mills kill gave St. Norbert a decisive 3-0 run to tie the match 1-1.
St. Norbert again fell behind in Set 3, trailing 6-2 out of the gate. The Green Knights still trailed 19-16 before a 4-0 run behind a pair of Maddie Kitowski service aces put them up 20-19. St. Norbert led 23-22 but scored on an Aurora service error and a block by Colburn and Szews to pull ahead 2-1. The fourth set saw St. Norbert take control from the start, leading 4-0 and 6-2. The Green Knights led 14-12 before getting away from the Spartans with a 6-0 run behind Claire Leynse’s service. Aurora crept to within 23-20 but a block from Colburn and Alli Clark and a Mills kill finished off the win.
St. Norbert hit .122, with 54 kills against 32 errors in 181 attempts. Mills posted 19 kills, while Casey Vaughan added nine kills. Clark and Anna Kudick had eight kills apiece. Colburn totaled 42 assists. Kitowski, Mills, Leynse and Alli Clark all had two service aces apiece.
The Green Knights totaled 94 digs, their highest in a four-set match this season. Kara Sowinski had 24 digs, while Andrianna Volz added 21. Lauren Bochardt chipped in with 13, Mills 11 and Colburn 10. St. Norbert’s 10 blocks were a season high, with Clark netting seven, Colburn five and Kudick and Szews three apiece.
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