The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team extended its season-high winning streak to five matches by defeating crosstown rival John Carroll University in five sets (22-25, 25-19, 16-25, 25-18, 15-13) on Wednesday night at the DeCarlo Varsity Center in University Heights, Ohio.

The Spartans improved to 13-11 this season, while the Blue Streaks, whose seven-match winning streak was snapped, fell to 14-7.

Stats and Standouts

• Senior outside hitter Kalli Wall matched a career high with 23 kills, adding four digs and two blocks while hitting .367 in the match
• In the middle, senior middle blocker Amanda Ngo had nine kills and four blocks (two solo), and senior middle blocker Kiya Levy contributed eight kills and three blocks (two solo)
• Sophomore setter Elena Esquivel finished the match with 33 assists, 18 digs, two blocks, two service aces, and two kills
• Sophomore defensive specialist Sophia Datto added 18 digs, three assists, and a service ace, and first-year defensive specialist Thea Beran had 15 digs

First Set (22-25)

• The Spartans started the match by taking five of the first eight rallies, getting a kill from Ngo and ace from Esquivel
• JCU took a 7-5 advantage, winning the next four points
• A kill by junior outside hitter Emily Goodpaster gave CWRU the lead again, 9-8, and a later 6-0 Spartan run increased their advantage to four, 17-13
• A 4-1 JCU run cut the deficit to one, 18-17, and the hosts took seven of the final nine points to claim the first set

Second Set (25-19)

• The teams battled early in the second period with Case Western Reserve taking a 7-3 lead in the opening moments
• JCU, using a 7-3 run of its own, tied the score at 10 in the middle of the set
• Goodpaster buried a kill to reclaim the lead for the visitors and ignite a 6-1 Spartan run
• The Blue Streaks responded by winning four of the next five points, cutting the deficit to two, 17-15
• CWRU won five of the next seven points to increase its edge to seven, getting kills from Ngo, Levy, and sophomore right-side hitter Madeline Halter
• Esquivel ended the stanza with a kill, evening the match score at one

Third Set (16-25)

• JCU started the pivotal third set with an 8-1 run
• The Streaks increased their advantage to eight, 10-2, and led by at least seven points for the rest of the stanza, winning the set 25-16

Fourth Set (25-18)

• Trying to push the match to a fifth set, Case Western Reserve began the fourth stanza with a 10-3 run, receiving four kills from Wall and three from Levy in the run
• JCU was able to cut the deficit to five, as late as 19-14, but would not come any closer to tying the score in the set
• Wall put down a kill to send the match to the decisive fifth set

Fifth Set (15-13)

• A kill by Ngo gave the Spartans their first lead of the final stanza, 6-5, and back-to-back attacking errors put CWRU up 8-5 at the midway point of the set
• Case Western Reserve led by four after a Levy kill, but the Blue Streaks cut their deficit to one, 10-9, with a 4-1 run
• The Spartans forced an attacking error and followed with a kill by Wall to claim a three-point edge, needing only three points to win the match
• The hosts responded with a pair of points, making the score 12-11 and prompting the final Case Western Reserve timeout
• After the break, Wall put down a kill, but John Carroll responded with a pair of points to even the score at 13
• JCU sent the ball into the net, giving CWRU the serve for match point, and Levy clinched the victory with a kill, her eighth of the match

Spartan Notes

• CWRU improved to 31-41 against JCU in the all-time series that dates to 1971. The Spartans have won 10 of the last 11 meetings and 17 of the previous 19
• Heading into the match, the Spartans lead Division III with 1,596 digs. The team had 80 against the Blue Streaks
• Ngo ranked 11th in Division III in total blocks, increasing her season total to 86 with her four on Wednesday night
• Case Western Reserve blocked 11 total attacks, seven more than the Blue Streaks
• Wall also had 23 kills in a five-set loss to Chapman earlier this season

Up Next

The Spartans will take 11 days off from competition before resuming conference play with the third University Athletic Association Round Robin, hosted by the University of Chicago on Sunday, October 26. CWRU will face NYU at 1 p.m. ET before a match against the host Maroons at 3 p.m. ET.