UChicago Improves to 6-0 with Friday Night Sweep over Webster
The University of Chicago volleyball team swept Webster University 3-0 in their opening match of the Windy City Invite. In the win, three Maroons recorded double-digit kills, and Ellie Maxwell and Isabel Cai combined for 37 assists.
Webster opened the match with an early 9-3 lead as the Maroons suffered early hitting errors. With the Gorloks still up, Thalita Marangon swiped a kill to cut the deficit to three, but a bad set by Olivia Zamis made it 17-13. The Maroons then started a much-needed eight-point run to take the lead and not look back. After a service error on Webster gave UChicago the ball back, kills from Adelee Kaiton and Jordan Jones made it a one-score game. An attack error by the Gorloks tied it at 17, and another kill from Kaiton gave the Maroons their first lead of the match. With the score now at 21-17 in favor of UChicago, Webster then went on a three-point run to make it a 21-20 game, but it wasn't long till another decisive kill from Kaiton put possession back with UChicago. Back-to-back kills from Madeline Lambros and Zamis closed out the 25-20 win.
In set two, points were traded back and forth until the Maroons found themselves on another big run. Jones and Gabi Spellings recorded back-to-back slams before Kennedy Cheung served up a big ace to give UChicago a 9-7 lead. A solo block by Lambros put the Maroons up again, and an attack error on the Gorloks made it an 11-7 game. Up by five, a slam from Marangon capped off the 8-1 swing for UChicago. The Maroons held strong as the Gorloks tried to force runs of their own, but ultimately the lead was too much to overcome as UChicago took the 25-17 set two win.
The Maroons held the lead for much of set three. After Isabel Cai connected with Lambros for a perfect attack, Webster went on a 7-1 run to take the momentum from the Maroons and a 18-15 lead. The Maroons responded strongly as a slam from Kaiton gave the ball back to UChicago. Julia Lewkowitz then served up three consecutive aces and gave the Maroons a one-point lead, 19-18. The Gorloks reached 20 first, but two decisive kills from Kaiton and two Webster errors put the Maroons up 23-21. Olivia Zamis killed a ball to give the Maroons a 24-21 lead, but the Gorloks were not going down without a fight, taking a 25-24 lead off a quick four-point run. Jones slammed another ball down to tie the match at 25, and two kills from Lambros and Jones gave UChicago the 27-25 win.
Marangon, Kaiton, and Jones all recorded 10 kills for the Maroons. Madeline Lambros finished with eight on an impressive .294 attacking percentage. UChicago finished the match with 11 service aces, led by Ellie Maxwell with four.
The Maroons improve to 6-0 on the season with the win. They'll prepare for a doubleheader against Wentworth and North Park on day two of the invite, starting at 3 pm on Saturday afternoon.