SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Concordia women's volleyball team competed in their last match of the 2021 season against Point Loma. The last match-up between the duo was in favor of CUI as they swept PLNU in the CU Arena. Tonight the match went to a five sets making this the third time of the season for Eagles to go to five. The Eagles fell just short with a tough battle against the Sea Lions with scores 20-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-22, and 10-15.
The Sea Lions came out strong in the first set taking an early lead over the Eagles.
Brianna Latigue went on a four point run where a few hitting errors from PLNU made it easy for CUI to slowly come closer. After the Latigue run, Point Loma never allowed Concordia to earn more than three consecutive points and closed out the first set over CUI.
The Eagles retaliated with tough serving taking a lead in the second set with
Hannah Tostado at the back line and forcing the Sea Lions to take a timeout with a 14-11 lead.
Gracie Rowland racked up a couple of aces in the set to take a five point lead where
Cassidy Gelacio finished the set off with an ace.
PLNU took control in the third but another service run for Gelacio brought the Green and Gold within just a few points. The Sea Lions finished the third set looking to close out the match in the fourth. In the next set, the Eagles took a 17-13 lead but the Sea Lions weren't done and rallied back to tie the game at 18 a-piece. The Eagles were able to finish the fourth set, taking the Sea Lions to a fifth set.
The fifth set continued to rally back and forth between teams but near the end, the Sea Lions went on a few runs that would extend their lead and get the match victory over the Eagles.
Patience O'Neal led the Eagles with 19 kills and Rowland right behind with 15 while adding three aces. Gelacio was the starting libero and tallied a career-high five aces and 17 digs. As the defensive specialist,
Julia Wilson recorded a personal best of 18 digs. Latigue was all over the scoreboard tonight with five kills, 38 assists, and 13 digs.
The CUI women's volleyball team finish the 2021 season with a 4-3 overall record while earning their first victory over APU since 2017 in a four set battle.
#CUITogether
