College of DuPage women’s volleyball kicked off their Invitational tournament on Sept. 5 intending to raise their record and gear up for a formidable home season. The Chaps, who were ranked No. 3 in DIII NJCAA, took on five of the top teams from around the nation, including No. 2 Century College, No. 15 Dallas College North Lake and No. 5 Minnesota West Community & Technical College. The tournament lasted through Sept. 7 and left the Chaps with two wins and three losses to add to their record.

Game One: Sept. 5 vs Dallas College North Lake

The first set of the match against the Blazers was back and forth. However, the Blazers went on a brief 3-0 run to win the first set (23-25). In the first set, COD had 10 kills, 6 errors and 36 total attacks. Similar to the first set, the second one was close until the very end. However, this time, the Chaps pulled through, going on a 4-0 run to close out the set (25-21). The Chaps had 11 kills, 5 errors and 37 total attacks in set two. 

With the Game tied at one set each, the Chaps wanted to get one up on the Blazers. In set three, COD ran out of a 21-17 lead, but the Blazers weren’t done fighting. The Blazers quickly took control of the set with a 6-0 run and won set three 22–25. In set three, the Chaps had 11 kills, 6 errors and 53 total attacks. 

With COD down to the wire, set four was make or break for the Chaps. The Blazers kept the lead for the entire set and didn’t let the Chaps get a chance to rally. COD was trailing by only one in the later moments of the set (22-23), but the Blazers shut the door on COD by scoring the final two points of the match (22-25). The Chaps’ stats leader was Caytlin Johns, who led the Chaps with 10 kills; Josephine Becker and Skylar Huffman came in close second with nine kills each. Becker had four aces, Jayde Grant had three and Francesca Brandonisio led the team with 24 digs. 

“We just want to maintain the level of play; I feel like we played at a pretty high level; we just ended on the wrong side of the stick,” said assistant coach Frankie Martinez. 

Game Two: Sept. 6 vs Joliet Junior College

Joliet came into the game on a three-game win streak and was looking to keep it going strong. COD, on the other hand, sought a bounceback game from their loss the day prior. Joliet got the scoring started by going up 2-0 in the early stages of set one, but COD came firing back with a 5-0 run themselves. The Chaps kept up the momentum and led the way to win the first set with a score of 25-15. In the first set, COD had 10 kills, 7 errors and 28 total attacks.

To begin the second set, it was neck to neck until COD went up 11-6. JJC made a comeback to get within one (13-12), but the Chaps pulled away and went on a 10-2 run to finish the second set by winning 25-14. The Chaps had 8 kills, 4 errors and 17 total attacks in the second set.

To start the third set, COD started on a 4-0 run. Joliet took a timeout to regroup and got their first two points of the match. COD kept the lead and won the third set with ease, with a score of 25-9, and swept JJC to go 1-1 in the tournament so far. In the final set, COD played their best all-around set by having 11 kills, 3 errors and 21 total attacks. The Chaps stats leaders were Johns, who had a team high of 10 kills. Brandonisio had the team high of 15 digs.

Game Three: Sept. 6 vs University of Wisconsin–Whitewater at Rock County

The Chaps and the Rattlers faced one time already this season, resulting in a Chaps win on Aug. 27. COD continued the win streak with a 3-0 sweep, winning all three sets 25-11, 25-10 and 25-13.

In the opening set of the rematch, WWRC led 2-0, but the Chaps rallied for nine consecutive points to take the lead 9-2. After a mid-set comeback by the Rattlers, the score was tied at 12. After WWRC’s rally, it was all COD from then on out in the first set. After multiple kills and attacks, the Chaps went on to win 25-16 with a game-winning ace. In the first set, COD had 9 kills, 5 errors and 24 total attacks. 

COD came out of the gate on fire in the second set, and the Chaps went on a 10-2 run in seven minutes. During the set, the Rattlers managed to regain their footing, but by then, they had dug themselves too far into a hole. The Chaps won the second set easily with a score of 25-8. The Chaps finished the second set with 29 attacks, 9 kills and 8 errors.

With the third set underway, COD had their eyes on back-to-back sweeps. WWRC scored the first point of the third set, but the Chaps scored eight unanswered points. COD showed dominance, control, and poise throughout all sets of day two and didn’t let a disappointing start to the tournament lower their spirits. COD defeated WWRC with a third-set score of 25-6. To finish off the day in the third set, COD had 12 kills, 4 errors, and 24 total attacks. The Chaps stats leader was Christina Savaglio, who led the team in kills with 7 and total attacks with 17.

Game Four: Sept. 7 vs Minnesota West Community & Technical College

The Lady Jays entered PEC Arena intending to spoil the Chaps’ recent success. In the opening set, both teams traded blows; the Chaps and Lady Jays were within three points the whole way until MNW prevailed 28-26 thanks to a block and a COD error. COD finished the first set with 50 total attacks, 10 errors and 18 kills.

The Lady Jays took a 2-4 lead early in the second set, but COD responded with four straight points to take a 6-4 lead. The Chaps had to use one of their timeouts when MNW went on a 5-0 run to retake the lead at 9-6, following COD’s rally. After the timeout, COD regained the lead after a 7-3 run (13-12). Just like the first set, it was neck-to-neck till the end, where the Lady Jays finished off the Chaps with a score of 21-25. 

In set two, the Chaps had 11 kills, 8 errors and 37 total attacks in the second set. The Lady Jays led 3-0 at the start of the third (and final) set, which was a set that had to be won for COD. The Chaps came back to tie the set at seven, but MNW’s high-power offense couldn’t be stopped. The Lady Jays took an eight-point lead (18-10) and did not let up; a few moments later, MNW concluded the set and the match with a score of 18-25. In the final set of game four, the Chaps had 16 kills, 7 errors and 37 total attacks. With 14 kills and 30 total attacks, Becker led the Chaps in both stats categories. 

“The girls continue to stay positive and continue to build on what we are working on; we have about 11 freshmen on the team, so there is a learning curve when it comes to playing at this level,” Coach Martinez said. 

Game Five: Sept. 7 vs Century College

With the COD baseball team leading the chants in the stands, the Chaps played the Century College Wood Ducks. COD went up 4-2 in the early stages of the match; it was a closely played game with the score being 13-12 in favor of Century. The Wood Ducks broke apart and ran away from the Chaps by finishing the first set on a 12-6 run. The Chaps had 7 kills, 7 errors and 44 total attacks in the first set.

Century started fast out of the break by going up 9-2 and making COD call a timeout. Following the timeout, COD was closing the gap to five points, but Century’s serve returns resulted in sets and kills that were too much for the Chaps’ defense to withstand. The Chaps rallied for seven straight points to get within three, but they were unable to finish the comeback and fell to 0-2 in the match. In the second set, COD has 8 kills, 8 errors and 42 total attacks.

Going into another must-win set for the Chaps, they went up early by as much as four, but the Wood Ducks came to the surface and showed why they are ranked No. 2 in the NJCAA. Century left the Chaps in the dust by finishing them off 25-14. 

“For the next few games just to improve on our serve receives, which in turn lead to a little bit more development of a more complex offense,” Coach Martinez said. 

The aftermath of the tournament left the Chaps with a record of 7-4 and an upcoming match is on Sept. 9 against South Suburban College at the PEC Arena.