The IUS Women’s Volleyball team faced off against Spalding University on Thursday night. The Grenadiers would go on to take the match 3-1 to help improve their overall record to 9-6 for the season.

The Grenadiers were led by Sophomore Monica Loftus’ 11 kills and Sophomore Hannah Jolly’s 10. As a team, they also added 9 blocks.

The first set was a battle to the end as the Grenadiers went down early but manage to claw their way back into the game. With no stand out performance from one player, the team was able to string together runs with with a complete effort from everyone involved. The Grenadiers went on to win the set 26-24. “Coming back in the first set showed a lot of resiliency,” said Head Coach Eric Brian,”It was good for us to be challenged.”  Going into the second set, the Grenadiers were ready to carry their momentum.

As the second set began, the Grenadiers didn’t miss a beat. They started the set off with the lead and even with a late run from their opponent, they were able to maintain it throughout the entire game. Senior Katie Fischer came out strong as she helped put the team in position to win points. The second set played out just like the first did. Great team play from everyone helped lead the team to a victory. They were able to put themselves into a position to get the ball back over and still find ways to outplay their opponent. The Grenadiers were able to close out the set with a 25-17 win.

In the third set it was all Spalding. The Grenadiers ended up going down early and could not seem to find their rhythm. But as the set would go on, a late run began to happen. The Grenadiers started to click and found themselves only down by less than 5 points. The late run by the Grenadiers proved to not be enough as they went on to lose the set.

Going into the fourth set, the Grenadiers started to take control early as they began the set with a lead of 7-3. As the set went on, the tables turned as Spalding began to heat up and would end up taking the lead late. Despite gaining the lead, Spalding could not close out the set and the Grenadiers went on to win the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.

“We started slacking in the third game,” said Senior and Captain of the team Katie Fischer,” But we came out in the fourth game and played out best.”

This was the fifth win in a row for the Grenadiers and a great way to gain momentum for this weekend. “We have two conference opponents this weekend, so hopefully it is a good stride to the weekend,” said Fischer.

Their next match is scheduled for October 1st at the University of Rio Grande where they will match up against Rio Grande University and West Virginia Tech University.