CHICAGO – It was a tough night for the Blue Angels volleyball team. Mount Mary University traveled to Chicago, Ill. to play the Illinois Institute of Technology today. The Scarlet Hawks took the 3-0 sweep in a 25-15, 25-15, 25-5 final match score.
Illinois Tech (8-12) came to the Bloechl Center earlier this season, the Scarlet Hawks went an impressive 3-1 in the Inferno-Angels Classic, but did not get a chance to play the Blue Angels. It seemed that IIT was paying attention between games. This win over the Blue Angels (0-20) snapped a five game losing streak for Illinois Tech.
Injuries have gotten the Blue Angels out of rhythm lately, having dropped 16 straight sets since the Finlandia Invitational. Payton Hintz (Fr./Almond, Wis.) has returned to action recently, and with six assists tonight, she led the Blue Angels in that stat. As Hintz gets her timing back, it seems the rest of the team is trying to jive with that timing as well as the miscommunications got the best of the Blue Angels. MMU fell victim to 17 serve aces from the Scarlet Hawks.
The shining offensive effort was from Sarah Wishau (Sr./Oak Creek, Wis.) with four kills, and helped out in front of the net with one block solo.
Coach Kelsey Peterson saw some potential in the early sets, "…aggressive serves from Hintz and Sarah Amoroso [(Fr/Wauwatosa, Wis.)] really helped keep us in those games."
The Blue Angels will host the first 2014 Mount Mary Triangular. The return home will bring not only the festivities of Homecoming week for MMU, but the ever popular Pizza Wars. Starting on Oct. 10th at 4:00 pm at the Bloechl Center the triangular will commence. The Blue Angels will start by playing Maranatha Baptist University in game one. Then a neutral site game for MBU, as the Sabercats face Moody Bible College. Following game two, the Blue Angels play Moody Bible College at 8:00 pm on Friday to finish up the triangular.
