Wheaton, Ill. – After a three-set loss to host Wheaton College on Friday, the Stars bounced back to defeat Purdue University North Central (Ind.), North Central College, and Concordia Chicago, each in three sets, to finish the Thunder Invitational Tournament at 3-1 and improve their record to 11-4 overall and 3-0 in Northern Athletics Conference play. 

Against host Wheaton, Evelyn Gamboa (Chicago, Ill./Queen of Peace) led the Stars offensively in the loss with 11 kills and a .435 attack percentage, while Jess Guerrieri (Plainfield, Ill./North) ran the offense and recorded 25 assists.  Defensively, Liz Yakey (Sun Prairie, Wis.) and Claire Dezelski (Northville, Mich./Ladywood) picked up 17 and 15 digs, respectively, and Dezelski picked up two solo blocks. 

In the Stars’ second match on Friday versus Purdue University North Central, setters Guerrieri and Missy Budz (Orland Park, Ill./Providence Catholic) dished out assists to nine different players, including Dezelski and Jacy Lawrence (St. Louis, Mo./Villa Duchesne) who each knocked down seven kills.  Guerrieri would finish the night with 16 assists while Budz stepped in to contribute 12 of her own.  Yakey went a perfect 15 for 15 in dig attempts to lead the Stars defensively. 

In the match versus North Central on Saturday morning, the Stars would need to play for extra points in sets one and three, but would come out on top with scores of 27-25, 25-23, and 26-24 to take the win.  It was a balanced attack on both sides of the net that would again prove to benefit the Stars, as Lawrence led the team in kills with nine, followed by Dezelski with 8, and Kellie Van Voorhis (Union Mills, Ind./LaPorte) with seven.  Three Stars players also recorded double-digit digs.  Yakey led the way with 20, while Becky Honerlaw (Waukesha, Wis./West) would record  12, and Lawrence would contribute with 10.

Versus Concordia Chicago in a non-conference match, the Stars would prove to be too much for the Cougars as the match went on, taking set one 25-21, set two 25-20, and set three 25-14.  Becca Fritz (Mount Carroll, Ill./West Carroll) would deal out five service aces in the match to contribute to the team’s eight, and the Stars shared the ball well offensively by assisting 34 of 35 kills.  Yakey was again perfect in her defense, picking up all 25 Cougar attacks that she attempted.

The Stars’ will now turn back to conference play, as they host Alverno College on Tuesday, September 27.  Match time is set for 7 p.m. in the Igini Sports Forum.