MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — The Wartburg College volleyball team fell to Cornell College 3-2 in a five-set battle where the Knights comeback fell just short on Friday, Oct. 9.
The Knights forced a fifth set after dropping the first two, but Cornell closed the match with a 15-6 win in the deciding set. Cornell snapped Wartburg's 11-game winning streak to give the Knights their first loss since Friday, Sept. 11. Wartburg is now 14-6 overall and 1-0 in American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play and Cornell moves to 8-7 overall and 3-0 in Midwest Conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Wartburg took a 3-1 lead in the opening set behind a service ace from
Gracie Hoskins and a block by
Anna Sash. Cornell moved from a 4-3 deficit to a 7-4 lead during a four-point stretch, but Wartburg worked back to 9-9 on consecutive Sash kills. After the set stayed within one point to 14-13, Cornell closed with 11 straight points, with Hannah Cantwell serving three aces during the run, to take the set 25-13.
Cornell scored the first five points of the second set on Grace Tverberg's serve, all on Wartburg attack errors, before
Peyton Robinson put Wartburg on the board with a kill.
Keely Kauten added two early kills for the Knights, but Cornell continued to add points through Selia Stein, Mia Tubbs and Ally Olmstead and moved ahead 12-3 after a Nia Howard ace and an Olmstead kill. Wartburg put together a three-point stretch to 12-6 with a
Lucy Maassen kill and two Cornell attack errors, but Cornell maintained the gap through the middle of the set and reached 20-9 after a block involving Stein and Cantwell and a Stein kill. Maassen had back-to-back kills late to bring Wartburg within 21-12, but Cornell took four of the final five points and closed the set 25-13 on a Cantwell service ace.
Wartburg opened the third set with five straight points on Robinson's serve, using kills by Sash and
Kaylee Koudelka around three Cornell attack errors to move ahead 5-0. The advantage held into the middle of the set, including a 19-15 lead after Kauten's kill, before Cornell closed the gap and tied it 21-21 on Olmstead's kill. From there, Wartburg repeatedly moved in front, with Kauten kills putting the Knights at set point at 24-23 and 25-24, but Cornell answered each time to keep the set extended. After Cornell tied it again at 28-28, a service error gave Wartburg another chance, and Kauten finished the set with a kill from
Alexa Buhman for a 30-28 win.
After Cornell pulled even at 2-2 in the fourth set, Wartburg built a 9-3 lead behind an
Ashlynn Hodges service ace, kills from Sash and Maassen, and an ace by Sash. Cornell later erased a 12-7 deficit with six straight points, moving in front 13-12, but Koudelka tied the set with a kill and Wartburg moved back ahead 17-14 with help from three Cornell attack errors and another Hodges ace. Cornell answered again from 19-16, using a Howard ace and two Helen Simpson kills to take a 20-19 lead before a service error and Maassen kill put Wartburg back in front 21-20. The teams traded points late until Koudelka's kill made it 24-22, and after Cornell won the next rally, Sash closed the set with a kill for a 25-23 Wartburg win.
Wartburg answered the opening point of the fifth set with kills from Kauten and Sash and moved ahead 3-1 on a Cornell attack error. Cornell pulled even at 3-3 on a Simpson kill, then used kills from Howard and Ashlin Nottestad to build a 6-4 lead before Hodges and Sash kept Wartburg within 8-6. From there, Cornell scored the final seven points, getting three kills from Nottestad, a Tubbs kill and a closing ace to take the set 15-6.
Sash led Wartburg with 13 kills and 17.0 points while hitting .414, adding two aces and three blocks. Buhman recorded 41 assists and added 17 digs. Hoskins finished with a team-high 18 digs and one service ace. Robinson collected 15 digs and added four assists.
UP NEXT
Wartburg returns to A-R-C play next as the Knights host Central College at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at Levick Arena in Waverly, Iowa.
