Volleyball Takes Down No. 22 to End Day One of Crossroads Challenge
August 25, 2018
By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – After a long opening night at the Crossroads Challenge that pushed match times back a couple hours, Reinhardt volleyball played into early Saturday morning and capped off day one with a 3-2 upset over No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan in come-from-behind fashion, 25-19, 17-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-9.
The Eagles moved to 4-2 on the young season after rebounding from dropping their opening competition of the event against Campbellsville (Ky.), 3-1 (16-25, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25).
This night, especially with the massive delays in game times, brought toughness out of the Eagles in the face of hardship.
"This weekend was put on our schedule to continue our growth as a program, and the Crossroads Challenge is filled with top-level competition, so we wanted to challenge our team very early in the season," head coach Brian Goodhind said. "The match against Campbellsville couldn't have started better, but ultimately their experience was just too much for us... to their credit. Match two put us up against No. 22 and another team with experience in Iowa. We came out strong and grabbed set one, but the teams here are established programs, great players and have solid coaching; with that, IWU fought hard and took the next two sets. The great thing about last night is it created adversity we can't replicate in our gym at practice and it allowed us as a staff to see how they would respond being down 1-2 to the No. 22 team in the country. The match was very well played and hard fought. At one point in set five, I saw it was midnight and we were still playing. Our girls responded well, and I was proud to see them pull out a tough win against a very good opponent.
"Today doesn't get any easier as we play No. 1 and No. 17, but we didn't come here for any other reason than to gain experience so our kids can see where we are taking RU Volleyball. God is good and thank you to the fans that traveled to Kentucky to watch us play."
The Tigers indeed looked strong and experienced in the opening battle, as they opened up with a 2-0 advantage on Reinhardt through the first sets before the Eagles could get on the board with a 25-20 decision in the third set.
Reinhardt would continue to play well through set four with an 8-2 start, but Campbellsville – who is also receiving votes with the Eagles in the Top 25 – stormed back to close the gap and eventually take the lead.
The clash would go wire-to-wire to the end with each team fighting hard, but the Tigers would take six of the last eight points (including the final four tallies) to claim victory.
Stat Leaders vs. Campbellsville
Kills: Tessa Colden (14), Sarah Chapman (13), Cheetara Bing (8)
Aces: Tessa Colden (2), Angel Cornista (1), Erinn Marroquin (1)
Blocks: Isabelle Diaz (4), Cheetara Bing (4), Sarah Chapman (2)
Assists: Erinn Marroquin (26), Carlee Baxter (12), Tessa Colden (2)
Digs: Angel Cornista (19), Kersten Joyner (12), Erinn Marroquin (11)
With the scheduled start time against the Wildcats of 9 p.m. EDT being pushed back quite a bit due to pace of play of other scheduled matches, Coach Goodhind's bunch had to learn on the fly to adapt to its surroundings and be ready to play when their name is called.
The Eagles seemed to fare well in that regard, as they were able to take a highly-contested initial stanza against Indiana Wesleyan by six. The Wildcats – as Goodhind mentioned previously – are just one of the numerous teams at the event that know how to respond… and they did.
After set three, Indiana Wesleyan was up, 2-1.
The young Reinhardt squad found a second wind of its own late in the Kentucky night and forced a deciding fifth set following a 25-18 win in the fourth go-round.
From there, the Eagles took complete control of the final stanza and soared out to a 9-2 lead in the first-to-15 competition (win by two). The Wildcats would go on a bit of a run to get within 11-7, but could get no closer as Bing (team-best 15 kills) finished off the match with a score.
Stat Leaders vs. No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan
Kills: Cheetara Bing (15), Tessa Colden (12), Savanna Davis (10)
Aces: Brianna Baez (3), Angel Cornista (2), Tessa Colden (1)
Blocks: Savanna Davis (3), Brianna Baez (2), Sarah Chapman (2)
Assists: Carlee Baxter (25), Erinn Marroquin (20), Kersten Joyner (4)
Digs: Carlee Baxter (12), Tessa Colden (8), Angel Cornista (8)
The final two outings of the Crossroads Challenge for Reinhardt on Saturday are both against top 20 teams in the nation, as top-ranked Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) awaits at 1 p.m., followed by a nightcap against No. 17 Georgetown (Ky.) at 7 p.m.
For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram.
For more information on Reinhardt Volleyball, please click here.
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – After a long opening night at the Crossroads Challenge that pushed match times back a couple hours, Reinhardt volleyball played into early Saturday morning and capped off day one with a 3-2 upset over No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan in come-from-behind fashion, 25-19, 17-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-9.
The Eagles moved to 4-2 on the young season after rebounding from dropping their opening competition of the event against Campbellsville (Ky.), 3-1 (16-25, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25).
This night, especially with the massive delays in game times, brought toughness out of the Eagles in the face of hardship.
"This weekend was put on our schedule to continue our growth as a program, and the Crossroads Challenge is filled with top-level competition, so we wanted to challenge our team very early in the season," head coach Brian Goodhind said. "The match against Campbellsville couldn't have started better, but ultimately their experience was just too much for us... to their credit. Match two put us up against No. 22 and another team with experience in Iowa. We came out strong and grabbed set one, but the teams here are established programs, great players and have solid coaching; with that, IWU fought hard and took the next two sets. The great thing about last night is it created adversity we can't replicate in our gym at practice and it allowed us as a staff to see how they would respond being down 1-2 to the No. 22 team in the country. The match was very well played and hard fought. At one point in set five, I saw it was midnight and we were still playing. Our girls responded well, and I was proud to see them pull out a tough win against a very good opponent.
"Today doesn't get any easier as we play No. 1 and No. 17, but we didn't come here for any other reason than to gain experience so our kids can see where we are taking RU Volleyball. God is good and thank you to the fans that traveled to Kentucky to watch us play."
The Tigers indeed looked strong and experienced in the opening battle, as they opened up with a 2-0 advantage on Reinhardt through the first sets before the Eagles could get on the board with a 25-20 decision in the third set.
Reinhardt would continue to play well through set four with an 8-2 start, but Campbellsville – who is also receiving votes with the Eagles in the Top 25 – stormed back to close the gap and eventually take the lead.
The clash would go wire-to-wire to the end with each team fighting hard, but the Tigers would take six of the last eight points (including the final four tallies) to claim victory.
Stat Leaders vs. Campbellsville
Kills: Tessa Colden (14), Sarah Chapman (13), Cheetara Bing (8)
Aces: Tessa Colden (2), Angel Cornista (1), Erinn Marroquin (1)
Blocks: Isabelle Diaz (4), Cheetara Bing (4), Sarah Chapman (2)
Assists: Erinn Marroquin (26), Carlee Baxter (12), Tessa Colden (2)
Digs: Angel Cornista (19), Kersten Joyner (12), Erinn Marroquin (11)
With the scheduled start time against the Wildcats of 9 p.m. EDT being pushed back quite a bit due to pace of play of other scheduled matches, Coach Goodhind's bunch had to learn on the fly to adapt to its surroundings and be ready to play when their name is called.
The Eagles seemed to fare well in that regard, as they were able to take a highly-contested initial stanza against Indiana Wesleyan by six. The Wildcats – as Goodhind mentioned previously – are just one of the numerous teams at the event that know how to respond… and they did.
After set three, Indiana Wesleyan was up, 2-1.
The young Reinhardt squad found a second wind of its own late in the Kentucky night and forced a deciding fifth set following a 25-18 win in the fourth go-round.
From there, the Eagles took complete control of the final stanza and soared out to a 9-2 lead in the first-to-15 competition (win by two). The Wildcats would go on a bit of a run to get within 11-7, but could get no closer as Bing (team-best 15 kills) finished off the match with a score.
Stat Leaders vs. No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan
Kills: Cheetara Bing (15), Tessa Colden (12), Savanna Davis (10)
Aces: Brianna Baez (3), Angel Cornista (2), Tessa Colden (1)
Blocks: Savanna Davis (3), Brianna Baez (2), Sarah Chapman (2)
Assists: Carlee Baxter (25), Erinn Marroquin (20), Kersten Joyner (4)
Digs: Carlee Baxter (12), Tessa Colden (8), Angel Cornista (8)
The final two outings of the Crossroads Challenge for Reinhardt on Saturday are both against top 20 teams in the nation, as top-ranked Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) awaits at 1 p.m., followed by a nightcap against No. 17 Georgetown (Ky.) at 7 p.m.
For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram.
For more information on Reinhardt Volleyball, please click here.