Alverno College

MILWAUKEE – The Alverno Volleyball team welcomed in the Aurora Spartans on Friday evening, falling to its guest by a 3-0 score.
 
Alverno was led by sophomore Rolin West, who notched eight kills on 29 swings and also had a trio of blocks and 11 digs. Freshman Natalie Onozie was second on the team with five kills and also added a pair of assists with two digs. Senior Alex McMath was third on the team with three kills, and also led the Inferno with both eight assists and two aces. McMath also chipped in defensively with one block and seven digs.
 
Junior Selena Upshur tallied two kills and had four blocks on the match with six digs, while sophomore Izzy Gianniou had Alverno's final kill in the stat column and also had three assist and three digs. Freshman Breann Flannery had six digs and four assists, while classmate Sharisty Kooch notched two digs. Freshman Jalea Taylor had a pair of blocks on the match as well with the Inferno tallying six blocks total.
 
Aurora stormed out of the gates in the opening set tallying 15 of the first 18 points. In the latter stages of the set, West notched five kills to will the Inferno back into the period but it was not enough as the Spartans clinched the set win, 25-17.
 
Behind a kill from Upshur and a block by Upshur and West, the Inferno had the second set tied at three. After Aurora scored the next two, the Inferno got a kill by Onozie off of a pass by Flannery. The Inferno held within one point at 7-6 behind a West kill and a Spartan error, but Aurora finished the set on an 18-2 run to take a two-set advantage.
 
In the third, it was the Inferno out front early behind a pair of aces by McMath, followed by an error by the Spartans. The Inferno led 6-3 off of a block by Upshur and West, before Aurora evened the score. Onozie picked up another kill followed by a block by McMath and Taylor to take another two-point lead, but an 11-1 run by Aurora put the match out of reach with the Spartans winning the third set by a 25-15 mark.
 
Alverno (5-15, 0-8 NACC) will be back home for its final weekend home match of the season as the Inferno will host the Rockford Regents beginning at 12 p.m. inside the Reiman Gymnasium.