CHICAGO — Each of the top four seeds claimed victory in opening-round action of the 2025 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Volleyball Tournament on Tuesday night with two of the four needing to rally to advance to Thursday’s semifinal round.

Top-seeded and NAIA No. 16-ranked Viterbo University (25-8) had the easiest go-of-it, winning in straight sets, while No. 3 seed Saint Xavier University (17-9) won in four.  No. 2 seed University of St. Francis (19-13) and No. 4 Trinity Christian College (14-15), meanwhile, had to rally from 2-1 deficits to move on.

Trinity Christian now heads to Viterbo on Thursday with St. Francis hosting Saint Xavier.  During the regular season, Viterbo beat TCC in four games, while St. Francis and Saint Xavier went five games with USF prevailing.

The two winners advance to Saturday’s championship at the site of the highest-remaining seed.

Recapping Tuesday:

Viterbo def. Indiana Northwest 25-11, 25-9, 25-15
Viterbo was the only one of the four victors to win in the minimum three games on Tuesday night, claiming its eighth straight victory.  The V-Hawks attacked at a .388 clip, while holding Indiana Northwest to a -0.21 reading.  Sadie Treptow led the offense with 10 kills and a .471 attack percentage.  She also provided four blocks.  Maddie Connor set things up with her 19 assists.  Defensively, Viterbo gained 15 digs from Resse Germann and six blocks from Jada Mitchell.

St. Francis def. Indiana South Bend 25-14, 18-25, 16-25, 25-22, 15-9
St. Francis escaped from Indiana South Bend’s upset bid by rallying in the final two sets.  The Fighting Saints used a combination of pieces to prevail with Emma Rodriguez’s ten kills, Ann Simon’s 27 digs and three aces, Riley Hungate’s 19 digs and Talia Messana’s 19 assists advancing St. Francis.  IUSB’s Alyssa Carson was unstoppable with her 23 kills and nine digs.

Saint Xavier def. Olivet Nazarene 25-22, 25-18, 17-25, 25-13
Carrington Smith led the charge for Saint Xavier with her .625 attack percentage as part of an overall .316 hitting mark for the Cougars.  She did not commit an error in 24 chances with 15 kills.  She also added four blocks on the defensive end.  Delaney Panozzo provided another 12 kills to the cause, while Samantha Hovey registered 29 assists and 19 digs.  Avanna Martinez also played big defensively with her 15 digs.

Trinity Christian def. Governors State 25-16, 18-25, 21-25, 25-14, 15-12
Sharide Sykes’ all-around performance fueled the Trinity Christian rally with her 28 assists, 15 digs, 10 kills and five blocks.  She was one of three Trolls with double-figure kill totals.  Sarah Neighbors (16) and Dej’a Williams (13, .423 att. pct.) had the other two.  Jorieliss Caraballo led the way defensively with her 17 digs.         

The remaining tournament schedule and results follow:

Tuesday, November 11 – First Round
• Match #1: No. 1 Viterbo def. No. 8 Indiana Northwest 25-11, 25-9, 25-15
• Match #2: No. 4 Trinity Christian def. No. 5 Governors State 25-16, 18-25, 21-25, 25-14, 15-12
• Match #3: No. 2 St. Francis def. No. 7 Indiana South Bend 25-14, 18-25, 16-25, 25-22, 15-9
• Match #4: No. 3 Saint Xavier def. No. 6 Olivet Nazarene 25-22, 25-18, 17-25, 25-13

Thursday, November 13 – Semifinal Round
• Match #5: No. 4 Trinity Christian (14-15) at No. 1 Viterbo (25-8) — 6 pm
• Match #6: No. 3 Saint Xavier (17-9) at No. 2 St. Francis (19-13) — 7 pm

Saturday, November 15 – Championship
• Match #7: Winner-Match #5 vs. Winner-Match #6 — TBA (at site of highest remaining seed)