KOKOMO, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's volleyball team traveled to Kokomo on Saturday afternoon to take on Indiana University Kokomo in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament. There, the Warriors season came to a close as the No. 11 ranked Cougars downed the Orange and Black in four sets.
In the opening set, the Warriors got out of the gate faster than the Cougars, jumping to a 5-2 lead early. However, trailing 3-6, the hosts would go off for six straight points, beginning a 14-3 run that put the Cougars up 17-9. From there, the Cougars maintained control to take the opener 25-13. The Orange and Black quickly bounced back, opening the second set on a 6-0 run and winning the race to ten, at which point they led 10-4. The Cougars refused to go away quietly, but the opening burst from the Warriors was too much for the hosts to overcome as Tech claimed the second 25-20. The Cougars flipped the script from the second set as they were the ones to open on an early run, resulting in a 7-1 score early. The hosts showed no signs of slowing down in the third, as they ran to a 25-11 victory. Set four was evenly contested in the early goings, but an 11-2 run from the hosts while leading 11-10 saw them grab a ten-point lead. Tech answered with a 3-0 run of their own but came up short as the Cougars took the fourth set 25-18 to claim the match.
Katie Gostovich led the Warriors' attack with nine kills.
Paige Redder and
Sara Gomperts had two aces apiece.
Noelle VanOort and
Jacqueline Allaway each had four blocks. Gomperts led the side with nineteen assists, and VanOort posted eleven digs.
The Warriors finish the season with an overall record of 27-11 and a conference record of 16-2, finishing runner-up in the WHAC regular season and conference tournament.
-TECH-