For Immediate Release
September 24, 2005

Maroons Finish Seventh at Wheaton Invite

Wheaton, Ill. -- The University of Chicago volleyball team captured seventh place at the two-day Wheaton (Ill.) College Invitational. On Friday, the Maroons fell to North Park University 3-0 before dropping a 3-1 decision to Benedictine (Ill.) University. Chicago (7-11) fell to ninth-ranked Elmhurst 3-0 in Saturday's first match before defeating Aurora University 3-2 in the seventh-place match.

North Park def. Chicago 30-22, 30-23, 30-26
Sophomore middle hitter Koryn Kendall (Napa, Calif./ Vintage) paced the Maroons with eight kills and five blocks in the tournament opener. The Maroons hit just .044 as a team.

Benedictine (Ill.) def. Chicago 30-26, 28-30, 30-25, 30-23
Senior right side hitter Erica Pettke (Sussex, Wis./ Divine Savior Holy Angels) hit a team-high 10 kills to go along with eight digs, two aces, and a pair of blocks. Senior libero Rose Kulczycki (Urbana, Ill./ Urbana) collected 21 digs.

#9 Elmhurst def. Chicago 30-17, 30-20, 30-18
Pettke and Kendall led the Maroons with eight kills each against the ninth-ranked Bluejays. Kulczycki registered a team-high 11 digs, while junior setter Nikki Sindy (Granger, Ind./ Penn) finished with 10.

Chicago def. Aurora 30-25, 29-31, 29-31, 30-28, 15-7
Pettke clubbed 24 kills and added six blocks as the Maroons rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Aurora in the seventh-place contest. Freshman middle hitter Katie Volzer (North Canton, Ohio/ Lake) added 15 kills, while hitting .483 (15-1-29). Fresmen outside hitters Katie Given (Atherton, Calif./ Castilleja School) and Ashleigh Eveland (Hebron, Ind./ Boone Grove) each collected 11 kills.

Statistics