The Viterbo women’s volleyball team won the regular season conference title on November 6. The V-Hawks came off an impressive season last year, naming five athletes All Americans, winning the conference tournament, winning the regular season conference, and making it to the final four in the national tournament.
The V-Hawks won on the road at the University of Indiana South Bend in dominant fashion, winning the match 3-1 with a margin of victory on each set by about eight points. Junior Jada Mitchell led the team on the offensive end with 16 kills, scoring the first kill of the match and continued to dominate throughout. Maddie Connor, who is also a junior, was dishing it out and making plays for the V-Hawks, leading the team in assists with 25. Senior Kenidi McCabe did it for Viterbo on the defensive end, having a team high 24 digs.
With the regular season conference win, this marks the fourth consecutive title for head coach Ryan DeLong and his V-Hawks. However, this new conference win comes with an extra bonus, marking it the first title in the new Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC). The previous three years were won in the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA).
The Viterbo women’s volleyball team ended up finishing the conference stretch 14-0, going undefeated in conference play and improving their overall record to an impressive 22-9. This stellar performance landed the V-Hawks a #1 seed in the conference tournament, just inching by Saint Xavier who had a conference record of 13-1.
Since their regular season title, the V-Hawks have advanced to the finals of the CCAC conference tournament. In the quarterfinals, Viterbo swept the number eight seed Trinity Christian trolls 3-0, advancing them to the semifinals of the tournament. The V-Hawks hosted the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees in the semifinal and showed their dominance from the get-go, winning the first set by an astonishing 13 points, ultimately winning to a clean 3-0 sweep.
Viterbo now faces conference foe Saint Xavier in the championship match after the Cougars defeated Judson University in the semifinals. The match will be hosted in La Crosse on Saturday, November 16, in the R.W. Beggs Sr. Gymnasium. The winner of this match will be crowned the conference champion and earn a bid to the NAIA national tournament.
