BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Hendrix started 2026 off on the right foot with back-to-back wins at the Illinois Wesleyan Invite on Friday night. The Warriors dispatched of Monmouth College 3-0 in the season opener before upsetting #24 Dubuque in a five-set thriller in the nightcap.
Monmouth (W, 3-0)
Hendrix breezed to a sweep over Monmouth to open the weekend, taking the sets 25-10, 25-15 and 25-16. The Warriors finished with 48 kills and a .375 hitting percentage while holding Monmouth to 18 kills and a .033 mark.
Hendrix broke open the first set after
Riley Brady's kill made it 11-7, with
Ana Bastos serving six straight points as
Ava Burns factored into two blocks during the push to 17-7. The Warriors kept control late as
Mary Addisyn Stubbs served five consecutive points, a stretch that included three
Camryn Kennedy kills, and closed the set 25-10.
After falling behind early 7-2, the Warriors recovered by scoring four straight points to get back within one before moving in front at 9-8 on
Faith Jones' service ace. The Warriors later won seven of eight rallies to push the set from 15-12 to 22-13, with
Alexis Mahan recording four kills in that stretch.
Rachel Pearce finished the set with a kill as the Warriors took it 25-15.
In the third set, the Warriors overcame a 5-2 deficit with seven straight points, moving ahead 9-5 behind kills from Pearce, Bastos,
Reghan Frazzetta and Brady. The Warriors followed with another six-point stretch to build a 15-6 advantage, with Bastos adding three kills during that surge. The Warriors closed out the set 25-16.
Kennedy led the Warriors with 13 kills, hit .450 and finished with 13.0 points. Bastos added nine kills without an attack error on 15 swings, hitting .600, and recorded three assists. Jones posted a team-high 14 digs, seven assists and one service ace.
Emma Blancovich finished with a team-high 14 assists and added a service ace.
#24 Dubuque (W, 3-2)
The Warriors gutted out a five-set win over their top-25 foes in the nightcap, winning 25-23, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25, 16-14. The Warriors finished with 12 service aces and 11 total blocks, compared with five aces and five blocks for Dubuque.
Mary Addisyn Stubbs served consecutive aces to give the Warriors a 3-1 lead in the first set, but Dubuque answered with a stretch that included three Megan Cooley kills and moved in front 8-4. Dubuque later led 15-8 before the Warriors worked back into the set behind kills from
Alexis Mahan and
Camryn Kennedy and a pair of Dubuque attack errors that cut the margin to 18-16. The Warriors continued to press late, tying the set at 21-21 on a Dubuque attack error. After Dubuque went back up 23-22, the Warriors answered with a Dubuque attack error,
Ana Bastos' kill from
Riley Brady and
Faith Jones' service ace to finish the set 25-23.
The Warriors started the second set with the first two points, including a block by Mahan and Brady, before the teams traded points to a 6-6 tie. Dubuque broke from there with four straight points to go ahead 10-6, but the Warriors answered with a Dubuque service error, Mahan kill from
Emma Blancovich and a Bastos ace to get within 10-9. Dubuque rebuilt the margin with points from Taylor Bechen's ace, Megan Cooley's attack and Warriors errors, moving ahead 19-11 before kills by Kennedy, Brady and Bastos slowed the run. Dubuque reached set point at 24-14, and after
Ava Burns' kill and a Dubuque attack error kept the Warriors in the set, Cooley closed the 25-16 set for Dubuque.
The Warriors led 4-1 early in the third set after kills by Brady and Kennedy, but Dubuque pulled even at 8-8 and later moved ahead 11-8 behind a Danielle McCue ace and a Halee Clare kill. The Warriors came back with four straight points, including a Mahan kill, a block by Mahan and Burns, and consecutive Burns kills, before Mahan put the Warriors back in front 13-12 after Dubuque had tied it. The set was even again at 16-16 when the Warriors scored six straight points, with Brady serving the final five points of the stretch and recording three consecutive aces for a 22-16 lead. Dubuque got as close as 23-19, but a service error gave the Warriors set point and Burns closed the set with a kill for a 25-20 win.
The Warriors built a 10-6 lead in the fourth set behind kills from Kennedy,
Addison Rud and Burns, a
Reghan Frazzetta ace and blocks involving Burns and Kennedy. Dubuque closed within 12-11 on Danielle McCue's ace, and after the Warriors went up 14-12, Halee Clare's kill, a Warriors bad set and a Chloe Reiser kill capped a four-point Dubuque run for a 16-14 lead. Burns put down a kill from Blancovich and
Mary Addisyn Stubbs followed with an ace to tie the set at 17-17. The Warriors also pulled level at 18-18 and 19-19 on Dubuque service errors, but Alexis Kammerer's kill, another McCue ace and a Delainey Winkel kill moved Dubuque ahead 22-19. The Warriors stayed within 24-22 on Mahan's kill from Blancovich before Clare's kill from Kammerer closed Dubuque's 25-22 set win.
After the fifth set moved into a 5-5 tie, Brady's kill from Frazzetta put the Warriors ahead, and they stretched the advantage to 10-5 during Kennedy's service turn. Kennedy served an ace in that stretch, Brady and Rud combined on a block-assisted point, Dubuque committed an attack error and Bastos finished it with a kill from Frazzetta. Dubuque came back from 11-7 with four straight points to tie the set at 11-11 and later tied it again at 14-14, but the Warriors answered with Brady's kill for a 15-14 edge. Kennedy followed with a kill from Frazzetta to close the set, 16-14.
Brady finished with 15 points, recording nine kills, 19 digs and six total blocks. Burns led the Warriors with 12 kills while hitting .500 and added four total blocks. Jones collected 22 digs and added three assists.
Mary Addisyn Stubbs served four aces and finished with nine digs.
Up Next: Hendrix will close out their stay in Illinois as they take on the hosts, #8 Illinois Wesleyan, at 10:30 AM at the Shirk Center.
