Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 AURORA, Ill. – University of Chicago's volleyball team split its two contests on Saturday, falling to Cornell College before defeating Aurora University in five sets.   
 
The Maroons completed their opening weekend at the Aurora Invitational with a 2-1 record. Both of Saturday's matches went to five sets as Cornell came back from down 2-0 to down UChicago in the opener. The Maroons staved off an Aurora comeback in the final match of the day, winning 15-13 in the fifth.
 
Cornell
 
Chicago was defeated by set scores of 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 15-25 and 11-15.
 
Offensively, the Maroons totaled 51 kills at a .129 clip with double digit kills in three sets. Maggie McInerney led the attack with 17 kills while first year Thalita Marangon added 11 kills. Christine Jurgens posted nine kills.
 
Klaudia Barbarossa racked up 29 digs. Maya Patel and Hillary Cheung combined for 35 assists.
 
Aurora
 
The Maroons won the first two sets, 25-15, 25-17, before falling in the next two frames 25-22 and 25-20. Chicago was down 11-9 in the fifth, but was able to score six of the final eight points to come away with victory.
 
Diya Mishra totaled 19 kills at a .529 clip, registering just one error on 34 attempts. Marangon and McInerney had 16 and 13 kills, respectively, in support.
 
Chicago totaled 66 kills at a .329 clip compared to Aurora's 58 and .241. Patel dished out 53 assists and led the team with two aces and 14 digs.
 
The Maroons take on Illinois Tech in their first home game of the 2023 season on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. inside the Ratner Athletics Center.