IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia University, Irvine women's volleyball started Saturday off with honoring their three seniors
Patience O'Neal,
Brianna Latigue, and
Hannah Tostado. CUI finished the season strong taking down APU in four sets with scores 19-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-15.
Seniors left it all out on the court during the match with setter Latigue finished the match with eight digs and 49 assists in four sets. This places the San Jose, Calif. native third in the record book for assists in four sets. O'Neal added three kills to the total kills for the Eagles. Tostado continues to impress in the middle with 12 kills while hitting an impressive .455 and tallying five blocks. The Whittier native closes out the season with 88 blocks.
Middle
Jalyssa Sanchez added 11 kills and five blocks keeping her hitting percentage to .417 and still placed first in the PacWest conference in that category.
Daniela Poles played a big role for the Eagles with 12 kills and scooping up 10 digs. Poles picked up some major digs for the Green and Gold that resulted in big points in favor of the Eagles.
Kirra Schulz hit her third double-double in a row with 14 kills and 10 digs on Saturday. Outside hitter
Kennedy Farley came into the match for three sets and totaled nine kills and 12 digs. Libero
Cassidy Gelacio made some moves in the back row to collect 22 digs while
Julia Wilson added eight digs. Gelacio led the team with three aces which places her leading the Eagles with 35 total aces on the season and Schulz right behind with 32.
The Cougars were able to take the first set over the Eagles but things quickly turned around as CUI pushed the next three set wins with their momentum. The second set toggled back and forth the whole set until
Kawehi Chang came in to the set and served up the last three points for the CUI victory.
The third set was all about runs for both teams as Gelacio started taking a 10-4 jump over APU. Farley continued on the service run train with a four point lead and not allowing the Cougars to get back into the set. In the fourth, the Eagles did not allow the Cougars to earn more than two points at a time; finishing the match with a dominating 25-15.
The Eagles push to 15-5 in the PacWest conference and 20-7 overall. The Eagles finished the season with a strong push going 11-2 their last 13 games. The 2021 season is their highest finish since 2016 where they were the PacWest regular season champions.
