Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Playing in its first twin bill of the year the John Carroll University volleyball team looked to carry over the momentum from its season-opening sweep of Lawrence on Friday.
 
John Carroll (2-1) utilized two dominating down-the-stretch runs to top St. Mary's in four sets and was unable to complete the 5-set comeback against Bethany.
 
Match One – St. Mary's (Ind.)
John Carroll continued to display resiliency in their opener for the day with two dominating runs to close out sets one and four. The Blue and Gold would take the match over St. Mary's 25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 25-11.
 
Leah Switalski led the way for the Blue Streaks with 13 kills with sophomore Kit O'Shaughnessy recording her second straight double-double with 33 assists and 14 digs. Junior Sara Kaminski joined O'Shaughnessy with double figure digs with 29.
 
Down 23-19 in the first set, JCU dug deep and stormed back with a 6-0 run to take the set 25-23. Leading the way was Switalski and freshman Leah Svoboda who each had a kill and a block assist during JCU's rally. The Blue Streaks were aided by back-to-back attack errors by the Belles. Freshman Julianne McGervey closed the set with her first kill of the morning.
 
JCU found itself in a quick hole to start the second set as St. Mary's raced out to a 7-1 lead. Midway through the frame, three straight JCU blocks had JCU back within two at 13-11. Katie Cosker put John Carroll on top squeaking in an ace down the line. The lead would be short-lived as back to back JCU hitting errors put St. Mary's back on top 17-16. JCU answered right back with a 7-1 with freshman Mena Afsarifard catching the back line for the ace. O'Shaughnessy capped the set with her second kill of the day to give the Blue Streaks the 25-20 win.
 
The Blue Streaks trailed 16-14 in the third set and used two aces by Afsarifard to take the 18-16 lead. The advantage would be short-lived with the Belles closing out the set with an 8-2 run to win 25-21.
 
JCU quickly opened up a 9-3 lead in the fourth set behind two kills from sophomore Alexa Webber. The outside hitter would add two more kills in the set to help stake JCU to a 9-point lead at 19-10. After St. Mary's Kati Schneider, the Blue and Gold went on their second 6-0 set-ending run to close the match with a 25-11 win.
 
Match Two – Bethany (W.Va.)
Faced with a tough test of playing back-to-back, John Carroll fought hard with Bethany. After falling behind 2-0 John Carroll battled back to win sets three and four. The Bison would go on to take the match 25-23, 30-28, 25-27, 20-25, 15-9.
 
Orlandi and Webber each led the way with 17 kills each. Kaminski added 28 digs in the Blue Streaks' second match of the day.
 
After Bethany opened up a 14-9 advantage in the first set the "Streaky Streaks" battled back. John Carroll cut its deficit to one at 18-17 after an Orlandi kill coupled with a block from McGervey and Orlandi. The Blue and Gold kept their deficit at one before St. Mary's closed out the set with the 25-23 win.
 
John Carroll bounced back with a quick start in the second set behind three kills from Orlandi and two from O'Shaughnessy.  Bethany rebounded to tie the match at 14 and 15. The Blue Streaks had a 4-0 run to open up a 19-15 lead behind a block from Orlandi and O'Shaughnessy combined with an Orlandi ace. The Bison would not go quietly and would take the set 30-28 despite McGervey's best efforts with three kills down the stretch.
 
Neither team could pull away in the third set with seven ties before the teams reached 10 points.  The Blue Streaks opened up a 5-point lead at 15-10 behind two kills from Orlandi and one from Webber.  The Bison cut the Blue Streaks' lead to two at 16-14 but JCU was able to take advantage of three straight attack errors by Bethany. The Bison strung together two 3-0 runs to knot the score at 22. The two teams traded points until JCU was able to capitalize on a Bethany missed serve and a Webber kill to take set three 27-25.
 
John Carroll looked to push the pace in the fourth set racing out to a 7-3 lead which included two kills from O'Shaughnessy. The Blue and Gold were able to take advantage of seven Bison attach errors to push the lead to 17-9. Bethany looked to make a comeback but John Carroll was able to take the set 25-20.
 
Bethany opened up a 7-3 lead in the decisive set. The Bison would string together three straight kills to make it 12-7 and would go on to take the set 15-9.
 
John Carroll will be back in action at the Marcia French Invitational to be held September 5-6. JCU will play two matches at Case Western Reserve on Friday and two at Baldwin Wallace on Saturday.