Sophia Gibbs
Kevin Krows/Millikin University
3
Winner Millikin MIL-U 19-10,5-3 CCIW
1
WashU WU 15-8,4-3 UAA
Winner
Millikin MIL-U
19-10,5-3 CCIW
3
Final
1
WashU WU
15-8,4-3 UAA
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Millikin MIL-U 26 21 25 25 (3)
WashU WU 24 25 18 21 (1)
3
Winner Millikin MIL-U 20-10,5-3 CCIW
2
DePauw DPU 10-11,3-5 NCAC
Winner
Millikin MIL-U
20-10,5-3 CCIW
3
Final
2
DePauw DPU
10-11,3-5 NCAC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Millikin MIL-U 20 25 16 25 15 (3)
DePauw DPU 25 22 25 14 13 (2)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Morgan Vogels

Big Blue Women's Volleyball Closes out Regular Season with 2-0 Day at Baden Invite

The Millikin women's volleyball traveled to St. Louis, Mo. on Saturday, October 30 for their final matches of the 2021 regular season. The Big Blue's season was capped off by a 2-0 day at the Baden Invite hosted by WashU. 

Millikin started off the day with a matchup against the host Bears of Washington University in St. Louis. The Big Blue outkilled the Bears 47-41 en route to a 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-18, 25-21) victory. Millikin's Tori Stuart topped the leaderboard with 13 kills, and Lauren Brummel and Jessi Kreder each added nine. Kreder led the way in blocks with four total, and Reece Brown added 40 set assists to her season totals. Julianna Vassallo tallied the top number of digs with 17 in the first match of the day, and Kailee Itzenhuiser added 16. 

In the first set, WashU got out to an early lead with a 4-0 run to break a 2-2 score and bring their lead to 2-6. After a back-and-forth sequence of points, Itzenhuiser stepped behind the service line for the second of nine Big Blue points in a row that gave Millikin a 15-9 advantage. The Bears went on an 8-0 run of their own to even the score at 22 apiece, then took the set point lead on a Millikin attacking error. Three straight points by the Big Blue, including a kill from Stuart and a block by Kreder and Stuart, gave Millikin a 26-24 win in set one. 


WashU once again jumped out to an early advantage in set two, taking a 7-3 lead after a 5-0 run. Back-to-back kills by Stuart pushed Millikin ahead by one at 13-12, but the Bears quickly re-gained the lead on two Millikin errors. The Bears finished out the second set with a kill by Jasmine Sells to complete the 25-21 set win. 

Millikin was able to stop the Bears from taking an early lead, using a kill by Kamryn Flesner and a service ace by Sophie Howell to tie the score at three. Back-to-back WashU errors helped Millikin to a 5-3 advantage early. Another short Big Blue run with Anna Deutschmann serving, highlighted by two Kreder kills and a service ace, extended the MU lead to five. The Bears kept the score close, but Millikin used a block by Kreder late, followed by back-to-back kills from Kreder and Deutschmann to close out the 25-18 win. 

In the final set, WashU continued the trend of getting ahead early, but the set saw three tie scores before the final tie at 10-10. The Bears scored three straight to take a 10-13 lead, and Millikin took their first lead by more than one at 20-18 on a Bear error. The Big Blue extended the lead to five as the last point of a 7-0 run with Brown serving. WashU tallied three straight to extend the set, but two kills from Brummel capped off the 25-21 set to secure the match victory for Millikin. 

As the second match of the day, Millikin took on DePauw for the second time this season. In their first meeting, the Big Blue swept the Tigers. This time, Millikin needed all five sets to take down the Tigers (20-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-14, 15-13). 

Stuart once again led the Big Blue with 21 kills. Kreder added 11, and Flesner tallied nine. Deutschmann rattled off six service aces in the match. Kreder added four more blocks in the matchup, Brown tallied 46 assists, and Vassallo and Deutschmann notched 16 digs apiece. Itzenhuiser added 15 digs.

In the first set, there were 11 tie scores in a tight contest. The Big Blue used a service ace by Stuart and a Tiger mistake to pull ahead 13-11. DePauw came right back to take the lead on a Millikin attack, 13-14. A 4-0 run by the Tigers late in the set made the difference, and DePauw took set one by a 20-25 margin. 

Millikin used a 3-0 run with Itzenhuiser behind the service line to take an early 7-3 advantage. The Tigers matched them with a 4-0 run of their own to tie the set. The set continued to go back and forth until three straight service aces off the hand of Deutschmann gave Millikin a 19-18 lead. DePauw tallied two points of their own, but Millikin came right back with an Itzenhuiser service ace and capitalized on a Tiger mistake to take the 22-20 lead. MU rounded out the set with a block by Brown and Sophia Gibbs and a Brown service ace to even the set count at one apiece with a 25-22 win. 

DePauw started off the third set with a 4-0 run, then extended their lead to 3-11 with a service ace by Katie Gansle as a part of another 4-0 run. The Big Blue chipped away at the DePauw lead, but the Tigers took set three 16-25. 

The fourth set saw Millikin off to a hot start with two Deutshmann aces highlighting a 6-0 run. After a Tiger sideout, Millikin used kills by Deutschmann and Stuart as part of a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 11-2. Yet another Big Blue 4-0 run with Brown behind the service line brought the MU lead to 11 at 16-5. Millikin closed out the 25-14 final set on a kill by Brown and a Tiger error. 

The final set of the regular season for the Big Blue saw Millikin start off with a 2-0 lead after a DePauw error and a kill by Kreder. The teams traded points until back-to-back kills by Stuart and Deutschmann brought the score to 5-2 with Millikin in the lead. A block by Stuart and Gibbs, then a kill by Brummel maintained the Millikin lead at 7-4. DePauw came roaring back with a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set at seven on back-to-back Millikin attacking errors. The Big Blue matched the Tigers with a run of their own, including kills by Stuart and Brummel. Kills off the hands of Brummel and Flesner extended the Millikin lead to four at 12-8, but DePauw once again matched and tied the score at 12. Millikin finished out the set with a service ace by Itzenhuiser to claim the 15-13 set win and end the day with a 2-0 record at the Baden Invite. 

Millikin women's volleyball will be back in action on Tuesday, November 2 when they travel to Wheaton, Ill. to match up against #4 Wheaton as the #5 seed in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Tournament. 
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