Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play kicks into high gear for the Benedictine University women's volleyball team this week, as the team will play three NACC matches. BenU will travel to Alverno College on Tuesday night, host Milwaukee School of Engineering on Friday night, and travel to Concordia University Wisconsin on Saturday.
Benedictine (4-15, 2-0) has just played two NACC matches thus far this season, defeating Concordia University Chicago on September 16 and Wisconsin Lutheran College on September 24. This past weekend, the Eagles dropped four contests at the IIAC-NACC Crossover Challenge at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. On the season,
Beckie Whitmarsh and
Keriann Groen have both tallied over 100 kills (Whitmarsh 136, Groen 102), while
Abby Screnock has recorded 384 assists.
Tuesday: at Alverno (9-9, 0-2), 7:00 p.m.
Benedictine's third NACC matchup is a trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to face Alverno. While the Inferno have dropped NACC matches to Aurora University and Rockford University this season, the team holds a .500 record and are 7-4 over the last 11 matches. Alverno played three matches on Saturday in Michigan at the Finlandia Invitational Tournament, defeating Finlandia University and Mount Mary University, but falling to former NACC school Maranatha Baptist University.
Benedictine has played well against Alverno since the NACC was formed in 2006. In eight matchups against Alverno in that span, the Eagles have taken all eight in straight sets. In last season's 3-0 victory in Lisle, Screnock led BenU with 34 assists and 10 digs.
Friday: vs. Milwaukee School of Engineering (6-8, 1-1), 7:00 p.m.
On Friday, the Eagles will play at the Dan and Ada Rice Center for just the second time this season and for the first time in NACC play. The Raiders of MSOE will visit Lisle, who come in at 1-1 in conference play with a win over Wisconsin Lutheran and a loss to Concordia-Wisconsin. MSOE has not played since September 24 and has no matches scheduled before Friday.
The Eagles have squared off against the Raiders for the past seven seasons, winning all seven matchups and four of them in straight sets. One of the 3-0 victories came last season Milwaukee, with Screnock recording 29 assists. Live audio, video, and stats for Friday's match will be available at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/benu/.
Saturday: at Concordia-Wisconsin (13-4, 2-0), 12:00 p.m.
Benedictine will have a tough NACC test on Saturday when the team travels to Mequon, Wisconsin to face Concordia-Wisconsin. The Falcons have won 13 contests this season, including both NACC matches against Edgewood College and MSOE. Over the weekend, the Falcons also competed in the IIAC/NACC Crossover Challenge, winning three out of four matches.
The Eagles have done well recently against the Falcons, taking the last six matchups in the series. Since 2012, Benedictine has defeated CUW three times, all in straight sets. Concordia-Wisconsin's last victory in the series came in 2008, which was a 3-2 win in Mequon.
