With less than two weeks left in the regular season, the Xavier Saints volleyball team looks to utilize every opportunity available to get better. After winning the Dubuque Invitational on Saturday, September 23, and sweeping Linn-Mar on Tuesday, September 26, the Saints expanded their horizons by participating in the ASICS Challenge.

“We have had the opportunity to participate in some things that we have never done before like the Notre Dame camp, and the Mother McAuley tournament in Chicago,” senior Charlotte Richards said.

This tournament is for the top Catholic high school teams across the country and is invite only. There were a total of 24 teams participating this year and it was hosted in Chicago, Illinois on September 29-30. The Saints played on Friday night to determine their bracket for Saturday. They defeated Sandburg (IL) in three close sets and lost to Downers Grove North (IL).

“I think the team is really strong and when the time comes, the team is good at taking care of business,” Richards said.

The Saints beat Henry Clay (KY) and Dubuque Wahlert in three sets each to reach the championship of the bronze bracket, where they lost to Skyridge (UT) in three sets.

“I think the season has gone really well so far,” senior Elle Choate said. “We’ve had some great wins and some tough losses, but overall it has been a great year that has been building on itself.”

The Saints are now 26-6 and look to finish up the regular season strong.

“We are a tough serving team, so we are able to keep other teams out of system with our serves and we have also been able to frustrate them by digging a lot of balls that we shouldn’t be able to get,” Choate said.

Xavier played Dubuque Wahlert on Tuesday, October 3 for senior night.

“Our goals for the for the end of the season are definitely to do very well in the MVC tournament and then in the postseason to progress far through the state tournament and hopefully win a state championship,” Choate said.

The Saints will play next on Tuesday, October 10 at Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

Caitlin Kramer

Sports Editor