Oct. 4, 2008

Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score

Grand Rapids, Mich. - Going into today's action, the Panthers proved they could hang with some of the region's top teams and although they lost their last match of the tournament, DU can leave with added confidence.

DU entered the Golden Eagle Invite fresh off their first WHAC win of the season on Thursday night and followed it up with two more victories against Spring Arbor and Daemen on Friday. As some school records fell during that time, DU increased its longest winning streak ever to four matches with a morning victory over Trinity Christian. DU would then take on Illinois Tech and battled them to the last point but came up five points short in a thrilling 5-set match.

In the morning match against the Trolls, DU fell behind early in set one and saw the school from Chicago take a 1-0 lead. The Panthers responded though and convincingly took the final three sets to earn their 10th win of the season. Megan Vanderhyde and Joyce Larioza paced the offense as they each posted double-digit kills with 12 and 10 respectively.  Kayla Vandermolen dished out 40 assists in the match and Autumn Williams led the team with 22 digs.

Looking to extend their winning streak to 5-matches, DU took on a very aggressive Illinois Tech team and played a flawless first set going up 1-0 with a commanding 25-12 win. The Hakws came back and played the exact opposite in set two and turned the tables winning 25-13. Set three was a see-saw battle but DU prevailed in the end for a 25-23 victory and a 2-1 lead in the match. DU seemd to be headed for that fifth straight win when they received a kill from Vanderhyde in set 4 to give them a 20-17 lead but a closing 8-1 run by Illinois Tech sent it to a deciding set. Davenport never got into any rythym in the final set and Tech came away with the 15-10 victory.

Vanderhyde once again led the offense as she posted 19 kills as she hit for a .255 clip.  Courtney DePriest led the way on defense with 28 digs in the match. For her efforts in the 4 matches, Kayla Vandermolen was named to the All-Tournament Team.

With the 3-1 showing at Cornerstone, DU now stands at 10-16 on the year and they will return to the court on Tuesday when they travel to Adrian for a WHAC contest with Siena Heights. They will then travel back to CU on Thursday for a matchup with the Golden Eagles.