OMAHA, NE - Grand View women's volleyball put together one of its best days of the season at the Bruins Invite on Saturday, picking up two hard-fought wins over Valley City State and Xavier University of Louisiana. Both matches tested the Vikings' but a deep, balanced attack carried the day both times.
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MATCH ONE: Grand View def. Valley City State, 25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 25-15
Grand View took control early against Valley City State, winning the first two sets before Valley City State forced a fourth with a 25-22 set-three win. The Vikings answered by pulling away in the fourth, 25-15, to close out the match. Grand View out-hit Valley City State .261 to .090 as a team and won the block battle, 8.0 to 6.0, while also taking the ace battle 8-4.
Vitoria Gasparini and
Maria Eduarda dos Passos shared the load offensively, each finishing with a match-high 13 kills. Dos Passos hit .387 on the night with 4 block assists, while Gasparini hit .303 and added 9 digs and 2 block assists of her own.
Jocelyn Barrett chipped in 7 kills and 4 block assists, and
Juliana Neves ran the offense with a match-high 20 assists.
Victoria Bencardino added 18 assists, and
Aydia Mayotte paced the defense with 16 digs.
MATCH ONE NOTES
- Grand View out-hit Valley City State .261 to .090 as a team
- The Vikings won the block battle, 8.0 to 6.0
- Gasparini and dos Passos each led all players with 13 kills
- Neves recorded a match-high 20 assists
- Mayotte paced the Vikings defense with 16 digs
MATCH TWO: Grand View def. Xavier University of Louisiana, 25-19, 18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-11
Grand View needed all five sets to put away Xavier University of Louisiana in the nightcap, trading the first four before pulling away in the decider. The turning point came in set three: trailing 21-17, the Vikings reeled off seven straight points behind
Victoria Bencardino serving to flip the set and steal it, 25-23. Grand View carried that momentum into a 15-11 win in the fifth to close out the match.
Vitoria Gasparini was the engine of the Vikings' attack all night, piling up a match-high 15 kills across the five sets.
Maria Eduarda dos Passos added 11 kills, and
Ana Julia Goncalves contributed 9 of her own.
Brooklyn Roder chipped in 7 kills, and
Lindsey Hrbek provided a spark off the bench with 6 kills after entering the lineup in the third set.
Neves and Bencardino again split setting duties, combining for 39 assists — Bencardino finished with 20 and Neves with 19 — while Bencardino also served up 4 aces, including several during the set-three run. Gasparini chipped in 3 aces of her own. At the net,
Luisa de Paula and Hrbek each added 2 block assists as Grand View finished with 6.0 team blocks on the match.
MATCH TWO NOTES
- Gasparini led all players with 15 kills in the five-set win
- Dos Passos (11) and Goncalves (9) backed her up at the net
- Hrbek added 6 kills off the bench after subbing in during set three
- Neves and Bencardino combined for 39 assists running the Grand View offense
- Bencardino's 4 aces included a decisive 7-0 service run that swung set three
WHATS NEXT?
Grand View heads to Fort Wayne, Indiana to compete in the Indiana Quad. The tournament is a two-day four-match tournament starting on September 4th against Saint Francis University.
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