MARIETTA, Ohio—No. 20 Nationally ranked University of Chicago took down Centre, who was receiving votes, in four sets, 25-21, 16-25, 25-16 and 25-14 Thursday afternoon in Ban Johnson Arena to advance to the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament.
 
Chicago (25-10) was led by a trio with Diya Mishra and Amelis Gibbs with 14 kills each while Maggie McInerney finished with 10 kills. Grace Xu finished with 21 assists while Thalita Marangon had 22 digs.
 
Centre (22-7) was led by a trio in Ally Knueven with 12 kills, while Mack Turner and Hollye Tate had 11 kills. Emily Gardner had a game-high 45 assists and June Padilla with a game-high 26 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One
Back and forth play started the match as both teams were tied at four but two kills from Tate started a 4-0 run from Centre gave them an 8-to-4 lead. A back-and-forth battle from the teams saw Chicago within one twice but Centre used two kills from Knueven in a 4-2 run to lead 18-to-15. From there Chicago caused four Centre errors along with three service aces as McInerney had two and Nicole Martinez had an ace finishing the set on a 10-3 run to win 25-to-21

Set Two
Centre began the second set on a 4-0 run and a 9-0 run to lead 13-to-1 as Turner had three kills while Tate and Knueven had two kills each.  Centre kept a double-digit lead most of the set as Chicago only touched a seven-point deficit in the set with Centre winning the set 25-to-16.

Set Three
Like the first two sets Centre got off to a hot start leading 5-to-2 but a 10-3 run immediately from Chicago gave them a 12-to-8 lead as McInernery had three kills and Amelia Gibbs had two kills in the run. Centre got within two at 15-to-13 but Chicago pushed the lead back out to four leading 19-to15. After a Centre point Chicago finished the set on a 6-0 run including two service aces from McInerney to win the set 25-to-16.

Set Four
Centre got the first point of the set but then a Chicago 9-2 run as four different hitters had kills to take a 9-to-3 lead. Centre used a 4-1 run with two kills from Turner to get within five at 13-to-8 but a kill from Chicago and then a hitting error pushed the lead back to six. Centre got within five twice but Chicago finished off the set winning 25-to-14.

UP NEXT
Chicago will take on No. 7 Nationally ranked Oshkosh, who swept Marymount 25-9, 25-17 and 25-10, at 4:30 PM on Friday in Marietta.