UChicago Improves to 12-0 for Best Start in History; Mitchell McPartland Earns 100th Win
The 24th-ranked University of Chicago women's volleyball completed another weekend sweep, taking down MSOE and UW-Platteville, to improve to 12-0 for the best start to a season in program history.
MSOE and UChicago got into a back and forth battle early on, but the Maroons won eight of 10 points in the middle of the first set to stretch the lead to 14-9. The Raiders continued to fight back, but the Maroons used three consecutive kills from Julia Lewkowitz, Olivia Zamis, and Thalita Marangon to take the opening set 25-18.
The Raiders dominated the second set early on, taking a 12-4 lead, and they stretched their lead all the way to 17-7. UChicago answered back with four straight points on three kills and a block by Zamis and Marangon, but MSOE responded with a big run of their own as they took the second set 25-14.
The third set continued to be back and forth with neither team able to stretch out their lead, but with the Maroons trailing 14-13, they went on a run with eight of 10 points scored thanks to three kills by Marangon and an ace from Gabi Spellings to take a 21-16 lead. MSOE made a run to get back into the set, cutting the score to 23-21, but UChicago used a kill from Isabel Cai and an error by the Raiders to take a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set, it was all UChicago from the jump as they took an 11-6 lead with four kills from Zamis. The Raiders went on a run of their own to stay in the set, but a seven-point scoring run from Jordan Jones, led by two aces and a pair of kills from Spellings, helped seal the four-set victory.
Thalita Marangon led the offensive attack with 13 kills and 4 service aces, and she added 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the year. Adelee Kation also recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 16 digs, and Olivia Zamis recorded double-digit kills with 11. Ellie Maxwell recorded 40 assists and 13 digs for her fifth consecutive double-double, and Kennedy Cheung led the defense with a career-high 24 digs.
In a thriller that went to five sets, the Maroons pulled out the win over UW-Platteville to complete the tournament sweep.
Taking home the first set, UChicago and UW-Platteville set the tone early on as the highly contested match saw points traded back-and-forth early on. Scoring three consecutive points on a kill from Marangon and an ace from Ellie Maxwell, the Maroons jumped out to the first four-point lead of the match at 15-11. They held the advantage from then on, as Jones delivered an ace to roll UChicago to match point. As the Pioneers battled back to make it a 24-19 game, a kill from Thalita Marangon sealed the win for Chicago.
The Maroons fell short in set two, but came roaring back to take an early 2-1 advantage in set three.
UW-Platteville opened up the third set with a 4-0 run, forcing the Maroons to play catch-up for most of the set. A kill by Julia Lewkowitz gave UChicago possession back and the lead at 13-12, as UChicago then forced the Pioneers to try to close the gap. Costly errors by UW-Platteville helped extend the lead for the Maroons as they quickly took a 20-17 edge and found the win off back-to-back Pioneer errors.
UW-Platteville didn't go down without a fight, forcing the match to set five and taking a 25-19 win in the fourth.
As tension rose in the final set, the score remained tight as the teams traded points throughout the fifth. UChicago took the first three-point lead of the game as Lewkowitz delivered two clutch plays for the 11-9 lead. In a rally for point 12, Marangon slammed one down into enemy territory to give UChicago its biggest lead at 12-9. The Pioneers came back to get within two, but suffered two attack errors to give the Maroons match point. UW-Platteville delivered a kill, and the Maroons suffered an error of their own to make it a one-score game. On the final point of the match, Kennedy Cheung connected with Maxwell, who set up Marangon for the match-winning kill.
Thalita Marangon finished the match with 18 kills and a .263 hitting percentage, and she also added a season-high 19 digs for her eighth double-double. Julia Lewkowitz was the lone other UChicago player with double-digit kills, finishing with 11 kills and 12 digs. Gabi Spellings and Kennedy Cheung led the defense with 5 blocks and 20 digs, and Ellie Maxwell tallied 45 assists and 16 digs.
Head Coach Mitchell McPartland also won his 100th career game in the win over UW-Platteville to become just the fourth volleyball coach in UChicago history to win 100 career matches.