SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Behind a balanced attack that saw three players with double-doubles, IU South Bend advanced through the CCAC Tournament Quarterfinals on Tuesday night, as the second-seeded Titans defeated No. 7 seed Cardinal Stritch in four sets at the Student Activities Center.
Senior Hannah Marchand led the way for the Titans (21-6), earning 17 kills with a team-high .326 attack percentage and 15 digs. Setter McKenzie Powell recorded 45 assists along with 16 digs, while Amber Jacobs posted 18 digs and 10 kills in four sets of work.
Both teams played even through the early portion of the first set, tied at 6-6 before IUSB pulled away with a 9-1 run. Marchand picked up four kills during the rally, and Felisha Campanello scored back-to-back points to help build a 15-7 advantage. The Titans would score four of the final six points, with a pair of kills from Marchand securing the first set, 25-15.
The Wolves (14-11) bounced back in game two, taking advantage of ten Titan attacking errors and hitting for a. 379 average, their highest of the night. The visitors quickly built a 12-4 lead and continued to pull away, closing the set on a 5-0 run to even the match at a game apiece, 25-11.
A pair of aces from Powell and a solo block from Campanello helped to give the Titans a 12-7 lead following a 5-1 run in game three. Cardinal Stritch would battle back again however, tying the score at 15-15 before a five-point run for the Titans put the home team back on top after two kills and a block from Julie Brown. Leading 21-18, the Titans would score four in a row to claim game three, 25-18.
Game four saw IU South Bend go up by as much as 13-5, but again the visitors were not deterred, going on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 15-15. Kills from Marchand and Jacobs put IUSB back up 21-17, before the Wolves used a four-point rally to even the score again, 22-22. A key attacking error from Cardinal Stritch made it a one-point advantage for the Titans, with Brown and Abby Seeger closing out the match with back-to-back kills.
The win marks the fourth straight season in which IU South Bend has advanced to the CCAC Tournament Semifinals, and the second time in that stretch in which the semifinal match will be played in South Bend. Next up for the Titans is the No. 3 seed Olivet Nazarene Tigers, in a matchup scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 11 inside the Student Activities Center.
