WEEKEND SCHEDULE AND LIVE COVERAGE:
Rose-Hulman 3, MacMurray 0 - BOX SCORE
Carthage 3, Rose-Hulman 0 - BOX SCORE
Rose-Hulman 3, Birmingham Southern 0 - BOX SCORE
Rose-Hulman 3, Nebraska Wesleyan 2 - BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology finished a 3-1 weekend with a pair of Saturday victories at the Washington (Mo.) Invitational.
In the opener, Rose-Hulman relied on a strong blocking performance to defeat Birmingham Southern 25-23, 25-18, 25-20. In addition to recording eight total blocks, the Fightin' Engineers defense forced a 5-3 Birmingham Southern team into 28 attack errors with its overall team effort.
Marissa Gollnick had a strong all-around performance to lead the Engineer statistics. Gollnick recorded five kills, 14 digs and eight assists. Bailey MacInnis and Grace Beach pitched in with five kills each.
Katie Orbeta paced the team with 14 assists. Katryna Dahlberg had 15 digs and Gabrielle Gilbertson recorded 13 to join Gollnick in double figures for digs.
The front row blocking effort was a key story in the win. MacInnis recorded four block assists, Maria Bruner had three, and Gollnick, Sydney Griffith and Mia Styczynski recorded two each.
In the second match of the doubleheader, the Engineers defeated Nebraska Wesleyan in a five set match 15-25, 25-17, 14-25, 25-21, 15-9. MacInnis led the team offensively with 14 kills and only 3 errors. Griffith also reached double digits in kills with 11.
After trading sets back and forth, Rose-Hulman was able to come out on top in the fifth set. The defensive presence led to 9 blocks in the match, and in the final set forced Nebraska Wesleyan to make five errors which led to the Engineers victory. Dahlberg and Gollnick led the team in digs with 27 and 21.
Following the tournament, Orbeta earned a spot on the Washington University All-Invitational Team.
Rose-Hulman stands 6-3 on the season and returns to action against St. Mary-of-the-Woods at home on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
