Alverno College

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Volleyball team improved to three wins on the season over the weekend, as the Inferno took a pair of non-conference matches from Finlandia (3-2) and Lawrence (3-0) at the Blue Angel Bash hosted by Mount Mary at the Bloechl Center.
 
The Inferno overall for the four-match weekend went 2-2, falling to host Mount Mary in four sets on Friday, before a three-set loss to Anderson (Ind.) later in the day on Friday.
 
Alverno was led by sophomore Rolin West, who recorded 64 kills over the four-game weekend as she averaged 4.27 kills per set and hit .239 on the weekend. Senior Alex McMath had 41 kills and had a .242 hitting percentage, while she totaled 96 assists on the weekend. With her 96 assists, McMath became just the third student in program history to amass 1,200+ assists in a career. McMath led the team with 13 aces, including nine against Finlandia on Saturday.
 
Freshman Natalie Onozie had a strong showing as well with 40 kills to go along with 21 assists; while junior Selena Upshur led Alverno with a .323 hitting percentage as she tallied 25 kills on 62 swings, and was also second on the team with seven blocks over the four matches.
 
Freshman Lynnica Harley led the team with nine blocks, including one solo block, and added six kills on the front line. Sophomore Izzy Gianniou was second on the team with 33 assists, and also added four kills to go along with five service aces. Freshman Sharisty Kooch had nine aces on the weekend, and also chipped in with 36 digs and six helpers.
 
Freshman Breann Flannery was amongst the weekend leaders with 59 digs, as she averaged 3.93 per set, while also collecting nine assists. Newcomer Jalea Taylor made her Inferno debut and notched six blocks to finish with the third most on the weekend.
 
Saturday vs. Finlandia
Alverno dropped the opening two sets by the scores of 25-22, and 25-23. The third set saw Alverno begin the dig out of the 2-0 hole, and come back to take the third set by a 25-23 score.
 
After hitting sub .172 over the first two sets, the Inferno hit .359 in the third stanza with just two attacking errors to win the third set. While the Inferno did not hit as well in the fourth set, Alverno was able to still win the period by a 25-18 score to force the match to a fifth and deciding set.
 
Despite the final in the fifth set being 15-12, Alverno dominated the fifth with a .364 hitting percentage as the team erased the 2-0 deficit to win its second match of the season. It was Alverno's first 'reverse sweep' since the season opener in 2021, when Alverno knocked off Mount Mary, 3-2.
 
Saturday vs. Lawrence
After Lawrence had gone five sets with Finlandia on Friday, and with Alverno coming off the lengthy five-setter earlier in the day, on paper the matchup against the Vikings seemed destined to go the distance. However, the Inferno had no intentions of going five and were able to sweep Lawrence in straight sets to close out the weekend.
 
As a team, the Inferno hit .330 on the match, committing just five errors on attacks the entirety of the match. Lawrence hit .107 over the three sets, including a negative mark in the opening frame. The Inferno dominated the scoreboard 25-11 in the first set, before closing out the match with 25-23, and 25-17 scores to sweep the day.
 
West added 17 kills on the contest, to go along with her 23 vs. Finlandia as she finished the day with 40. West hit a season-best .415 against Lawrence to bring her season average up to .230. West and Kooch each had three aces, while McMath matched her jersey number with 22 assists. Three Inferno had three blocks apiece, with Upshur, Harley and Taylor leading the efforts up from. West and McMath also led with 15 and 13 digs apiece.
 
Friday vs. Mount Mary 
The Inferno dominated the opening set of the match with a 25-12 score against their crosstown foe, but Mount Mary was able to answer with 25-20, 25-18, and 25-14 scores to take the match 3-1.
 
West led Alverno with 14 kills, while McMath tallied 23 assists. Kooch led with four aces, while on the defensive side of the ball, Flannery and West were tied for the team lead with 22 digs apiece.
 
Friday vs. Anderson
The only team to go unbeaten on the weekend was Anderson, as the Ravens took three-straight sets from the Inferno, 25-11, 25-22 and 25-15.
 
Anderson only allowed 20 points twice on the weekend, the first time coming against the Inferno in the second set on Friday.
 
Onozie led Alverno with 11 kills, with McMath leading with 19 assists and three aces. West led with 15 digs, while Flannery added a dozen digs.
 
Up Next
Alverno (3-4) will next travel to take on Lawrence again, this time at Lawrence's Alexander Gymnasium on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. Conference play will open on Wednesday evening at Marian, with a 7 p.m. start inside Sadoff Gymnasium.