MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Milwaukee Area Technical College women's volleyball team extended its season-opening win streak to seven matches Wednesday night, defeating Joliet Junior College 3-1 (25-7, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19) in the Region 4 and home opener at Reiman Gymnasium on the campus of Alverno College.
"We have a lot of talent on this team," Stormers head coach
Shel DeLisle said. "We're still figuring out what they can do, which is why the lineup changes every time. I'm proud of all of them. They dig deep, and they're starting to click. You can see it when they're on the court."
MATC wasted no time asserting control in the opening set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead before stretching the margin to 11-3 behind back-to-back kills from sophomore
Kendall Revolinski and freshman
Annika Romine. The Stormers closed the set on a 14-4 run, fueled by kills from freshman pin hitter
Natalia Farrugia and
Allison Chapman. MATC recorded 11 kills and hit .400 in the first set to take a 1-0 lead.
"We got lucky with our middles — bringing in
Allison Chapman,
Natalia Farrugia, and
Annika Romine," DeLisle said. "They play a quick ball and elevate well above the net, which gives us a lot of opportunities we didn't necessarily have when we were a shorter team."
The second set followed a similar script early, with MATC building an 8-3 advantage after five straight points. However, a series of errors allowed Joliet to rally, forcing ties at 11, 13, 15 and 23 before closing out the set with a 25-23 win. It was the Stormers' least efficient frame, as they totaled nine kills and nine errors for a .000 hitting percentage.
The third set was tightly contested until MATC turned a 7-6 deficit into an 11-7 lead with a 4-0 run, highlighted by a kill and block from Farrugia. The Stormers extended their lead to 16-11 and finished the set on a 9-4 run. They hit .321 with 13 kills on 28 attempts to take a 2-1 match lead.
MATC sealed its seventh straight victory in the fourth set. After a back-and-forth battle through the first 30 points, the Stormers broke a 15-15 tie with a decisive 5-0 run. Consecutive kills from Farrugia and Revolinski shifted momentum, prompting Joliet to call its final timeout trailing 20-15. The Stormers closed out the match with kills from
Grace Adams, Romine and Revolinski, and sophomore libero
Kimberly Busateri delivered an ace on match point. MATC hit .241 in the final set, converting 13 of 29 attack attempts.
"I think we worked well as a team," Farrugia said. "We had a rough day on Monday, so to come back, play together, and really click with our sets, passes and serves — that's what helped us win tonight."
The Stormers finished with 46 kills and a .222 hitting percentage overall. They also tallied 53 digs, 37 assists, 17 service aces and 13 total blocks.
Romine led the offense with eight kills on 14 attempts (.571), adding three block assists and one solo block. Farrugia contributed seven kills, four aces, three block assists and a dig. Revolinski added seven kills, one dig and a block assist. Busateri anchored the defense with a team-high 21 digs and four service aces. Chapman posted a .600 hitting percentage with seven kills on 10 attempts.
"We played as a team tonight," DeLisle said, reflecting on what impressed her most against Joliet. "That makes me really happy — it's what matters most to me."
Up Next
MATC (7-0) travels south Friday to compete in the Kankakee Community College Triangular, facing host KCC at 1 p.m. and Rock Valley at 3 p.m. to close out the event.
