JOLIET, Ill. – IU South Bend earned their fifth straight victory on Saturday night, surviving in a five-set thriller over St. Francis.
The Titans (12-3, 8-0 CCAC) remain perfect in CCAC play after coming back from behind 7-6 in the decisive fifth set. Hannah Marchand scored a kill and an ace in back-to-back points to put IUSB in front, starting a 6-1 run that saw the Titans take a 12-8 lead en route to the victory.
IUSB opened the match by taking the first two sets, before the Saints (10-11, 6-3 CCAC) responded with wins in games three and four. Trailing 14-9 in the opener, the Titans scored 13 of the next 15 points beginning with three straight kills from Marchand to take control, 22-16. A block from Julie Brown and Amber Jacobs at set point clinched the game, 25-18.
The Titans would lead the second set wire-to-wire after jumping out to a 9-2 lead, with six straight points coming from kills by Marchand and Brown, and a Felisha Campanello block. St. Francis would climb back to within three points at 14-11, but that would be as close as they would get, with McKenzie Powell and Brown scoring a block for the win at 25-21.
Nearly closing out the match in a sweep, an ace from Suriya Van der Oord tied the score at 20-20 in game three. The Saints bounced back however, scoring five of the final six points to extend the match with a 25-21 win.
St. Francis would take game four as well, breaking an 11-11 tie with a 5-1 rally, then going 5-for-5 on sideout points the rest of the way to earn a 25-17 win.
In game five, the home team opened with a 4-2 advantage, but kills from Jacobs and Marchand quickly tied the game at 4-4. The set remained tied at 7-7, before a Marchand ace put IUSB in front for good. Leading 12-8, the Titans nearly lost the lead as St. Francis rallied to within a point at 14-13, but Marchand finished the night with her 25th on the fourth match point.
Marchand finished one kill shy of her career high, leading the Titans with 25 kills, while Brown collected 15 kills in the win. Jacobs earned her fifth double-double of the year, with 12 kills and 21 digs. Powell picked up 54 assists as well as 16 digs, while Van der Oord led the defense with 29 digs.