WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

In their final match of the regular season, the Huntington University volleyball team came up short on the road Wednesday night, falling to Spring Arbor University in four sets (25-19, 21-25, 25-11, 25-19). 

Despite the setback, the Foresters finish the regular season at 24-7 (12-6 Crossroads League), marking their highest win total since 2007–08, and will head into next week’s Crossroads League Tournament as the No. 3 seed. 

After dropping a tight opening set, HU responded with composure in set two. Behind steady setting from Lauren Ross and strong swings from Haley Kruse and Maisyn Robrock, the Foresters hit .152 in the frame and evened the match at one apiece. But the Cougars’ offense came alive from there, posting a blistering .412 attack percentage in set three and .319 in set four to close out the night. 

Ross led Huntington with an efficient all-around effort—28 assists, 7 kills, and 11 digs—while Kruse tallied 10 kills and 14 digs for her 12th double-double of the season. Robrock added 9 kills, and Maggie Hollon chipped in 7 kills and a block assist. Defensively, Layla Meyer anchored the back row with a team-high 22 digs, and Trevyn Terry contributed at the net with 4 kills and 4 blocks. 

“I’m disappointed in that areas of our game that are typically strengths of ours weren’t tonight. Our attacking errors combined with our defense not being at our expected level made it challenging to walk away with a win,” said Forester coach Kelsey Herber. “But we walked out of the locker room together and with a fire lit underneath us. We are going to learn, grow and allow this to catapult us forward into being the best version of ourselves going into Saturday.” 

The Foresters now turn their attention to postseason play, where they’ll open the Crossroads League Tournament in Platt Arena against Marian. The first serve of the quarterfinal match is set for 7:00pm.