SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The No. 18 LC State Volleyball team pulled off a comeback for the ages on Thursday on the NAIA's biggest stage. The Warriors fell behind 2-0 in the match and trailed 10-2 in the third set before turning the tables for a reverse sweep against No. 21 Aquinas (Mich.). The 23
rd-seeded Warriors defeated the 15
th-seeded Saints by scores of 22-25, 20-25, 26-24, 25-17, 15-8.
Freshman Mikale Roy put together the best match of her career at the perfect time with a career-high 21 kills. Her previous career best was eight, set last night. Ella Stosich anchored the defense with 26 digs and senior setter Esther Kailiponi was clutch with a team-high 20 assists and four aces to go with 17 digs. Both LC State setters had double-doubles with Teagan Scott's 19 assists and 15 digs.
LC State's fate will be determined on Friday when Aquinas takes on No. 3 Northwestern (Iowa). The Warriors need an Aquinas win to force tie breakers in Pool B. A win for Northwestern will end the season for LC State.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Aquinas opened the match on a 4-1 lead before Juliauna Forgach Aguilar tallied the first kill of the match for the Warriors. Aces by Scott and Makenzie Stout and kills by Taylor Boyce, Abby Beaton and Roy tied the set at 10-10. Roy and Forgach Aguilar kept the score knotted and a swing by Boyce gave LC State its first lead of the match at 15-14. Boyce and Alba Carpena continued the back and forth, but a late run by the Saints ended the set 25-22 in favor of Aquinas.
Roy gave the Warriors a 4-1 lead with a pair of kills to start the second frame. First-year Warriors Carpena and Roy kept the offensive pressure up with kills to make it 12-7 and force an Aquinas timeout. Roy added on as the LC State advantage grew to 16-11. The Saints flipped a switch late in the set to gain momentum and overtake the Warriors with a 10-2 run to take the frame 25-20.
Aquinas maintained its momentum with another 10-2 to start the third set. Roy notched back-to-back kills in the stretch and Forgach Aguilar cut the deficit to 11-7 with a kill. A swing by Boyce kicked the comeback fully into gear and ace by Stout made it a two-point difference at 15-13. An error by the Saints gave the Warriors their first lead of the set, 18-17, and three kills by Forgach Aguilar stretched the margin to 21-19. A push by Aquinas had the lead changing hands late until back-to-back kills by Roy won the set 26-24.
Karissa Lindner, Roy, Forgach Aguilar and Boyce notched kills to get LC State off to a 6-1 start in the fourth set. The Warriors struck for four straight points with kills by Forgach Aguilar and Boyce to go with an ace by Stosich to push the score to 10-4, and tallies by Beaton, Boyce and Scott made it 13-6. The two teams traded points with LC State contributions by Roy, Carpena, Forgach Aguilar and Beaton for a 21-14 advantage. Carpena added a kill before an ace by Scott had the frame at set point, 24-15, and an Aquinas error forced a fifth set at 25-17.
Roy opened the deciding frame with two kills for a 2-1 LC State edge, and Boyce added two of her own to make it 5-4. Her second swing sparked a run of three that was capped by a kill by Carpena at 7-4, but Aquinas answered to cut the lead to one at 8-7. Roy helped the Warriors regain their footing with a kill and an ace by Ashlyn Watt made it a 10-7 advantage. Esther Kailiponi served three straight aces ahead of an error by Aquinas to seal the 15-8 victory. The Warriors scored five straight points to compete the reverse sweep.
STAT RECAP
Roy led the contest with 21 kills on a .351 attack percentage. She had one attack error in 57 swings. Boyce added 15 kills and Forgach Aguilar tallied 11.
Kailiponi orchestrated the offense with 20 assists and had 17 digs with four service aces, and Scott dished out 19 assists with 15 digs and three aces. Stout had a career-high eight assists with 15 digs.
Stosich led the contest with 26 digs, just shy of her career best, along with five assists and two aces. Kadence Moore collected 12 digs.
Both teams hit .211 in the contest and Aquinas had two more kills with 60. LC State had the edge in aces (13-7), assists (54-53) and digs (103-86). The Warriors held the Saints to a .000 attack percentage in the final set and .143 in the fourth.
UP NEXT
The Warriors need Aquinas to defeat Northwestern on Friday to force tie breakers in the Pool. If Northwestern defeats Aquinas, the LC State season will come to a close.
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