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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Olivia mogyordy file photo
Jose Figueroa

Volleyball Shows Promise in Season-Opening Loss to #18 Ithaca

| By: Joe Ginley '16, SID
Olivia Mogyordy

The Blue Streaks won a fantastic opening set against the host Bombers

Box Score ITHACA, N.Y. – The regular season opened with anything but a layup for the Blue Streaks.

John Carroll faced off with host Ithaca College to start the 2025 Bomber Volleyball Invitational on Friday evening in New York. The Bombers enter the campaign ranked #18 in NCAA Division III.

Returning the core from last year's NCAA Sweet Sixteen team, the Bombers looked like a juggernaut, but the Blue Streaks hung with the hosts. John Carroll exhibited strong fight, especially considering first years helped to fill starting roles vacated by graduating players. 

John Carroll won a thrilling first set, 29-27, before faltering in the next three sets, 14-25, 20-25, 20-25.

While the Bombers leaped to a 14-9 advantage for starters, John Carroll clawed back into it with a fantastic 7-point run, powered by a pair of Olivia Mogyordy aces and a trio of Ithaca attack errors. After a pair of Mary Kate Sheehan kills, Ithaca threatened to end things with a 4-0 run to bring JCU to setpoint, 24-22. But Deja Whitten got JCU back into it. Kills by Grace Jones and Natalie Glowe plus a Hailey Williams service ace completed a fantastic 29-27 opening victory.

While the opening portion of the first set was close, Ithaca punched back with a 9-point run to steal control of the second set. Sheehan notched a couple of kills, but there was no coming back.

JCU stood stronger through the middle portion of the third set, but again, a Bomber run took things out of JCU's hands. A 7-1 Ithaca sprint late negated strong play by Glowe and others.
Errors haunted JCU late in the fourth set, taking away hopes of a comeback. But still, the Blue Streaks showed some glimpses along the way. Namely, Elena Montenegro and Jones made impressive debuts.

Sheehan finished with a team-best 13 kills, tops on the team. Haley Nicholson and Tess Humphrey finished with 19 and 17 assists, respectively. Olivia Mogyordy topped the team with 15 digs, followed closely by Glowe with 14.

Next Up
The Blue Streaks will face St. John Fisher University at 11 am and the University of Rochester at 3 pm, continuing at Ithaca's tournament.
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