BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In their first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) contest of the season, Carthage took down Illinois Wesleyan in straight sets on Wednesday night.
- Final score: Carthage 3 - Illinois Wesleyan 0
- Location: Bloomington, Ill. - Shirk Arena
- Records: Carthage 6-5 (1-0 CCIW), Illinois Wesleyan 4-7 (1-1 CCIW)
- Kinsey Bakhaus connected on a kill for a 12-9 lead in set one.
- Later, Kaitie Rohe added a kill, which extended the Firebird margin to four.
- Carthage closed the set with another kill from Leena Ajibola for the 25-18 win.
- Liv Carel used a kill and a combined block from Carel and Katie Boston to propel the Firebirds in front 11-9.
- Three consecutive Titan attack errors widened the advantage to four.
- Illinois Wesleyan battled back, tying it at 19.
- With the set tied at 24, a block from Bakhaus and Boston, plus a kill from Carel, won the set 26-24.
- In the third, the home team clung to a one-point score until Rohe tied it at eight with a kill.
- A Titans attack error gave Carthage control of the set 13-10.
- Ajibola notched her sixth kill of the game as the Firebirds went ahead by four.
- Although the Titans cut it to three, the home team won the match, ending with a kill from Carel and a combined block from Bakhaus and Ajibola 25-21.
"Feels good to start the CCIW season off with a win! It was a good team victory tonight! Our passers really did well, giving our setters choices on offense.
Kaitie Rohe and
Kristina Manojlovic hit a very high percentage and got us some clutch kills.
Liv Carel and
Kinsey Bakhaus gave us a spark on offense as well.
Leena Ajibola had some real heads-up plays and sparked us with her serving tonight.
Katie Boston did a nice job blocking tonight. I'm excited to get back in the gym and get ready for a tough tournament at Wartburg this weekend!!"
- Carthage returns to non-conference play playing in the Wartburg Tournament, which starts Friday, September 22 against Cornell at 4 p.m.
