Joliet, Ill. – Evangel's 24 game winning streak came to an end with a 3-2 (21-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 11-15) loss to 2nd ranked Viterbo (Wisc.) in a back-and-forth match at the University of St. Francis Tournament in Joliet, Illinois. 

The Crusaders and V-Hawks split the first four sets.  Evangel forced the deciding fifth set winning the fourth 25-21.  Evangel went up early in the fifth 6-1 and made the switch with an 8-6 lead.  Evangel built their lead to 10-7 until Viterbo finished the set on an 8-1 run to win the match. 

Evangel was led by Micah Guiot with 10 kills, five of those kills coming in the fourth set.  Jackie Fugate had a team high five blocks and also added eight kills.  Morgan Smith recorded 20 digs, added seven assists and two services aces.  Chloe Hadley led Evangel with 21 assists. 

Evangel bounced back with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-16) win against Marian (Ind.) in their second match. 

The Crusaders were led by Haley Watson, Micha Guiot and Morgan Kensinger all with eight kills.  Kensinger along with Jackie Fugate recorded six blocks.  Chloe Hadley added 16 assists and Haley Watson and Maddie Baumann added two service aces apiece. 

The Crusaders moved to 25-1 on the season. Viterbo improved to 23-0 on the year and Marian dropped to 4-9. 

Evangel will be in action again Saturday morning when they play host St. Francis (Ill.) at 9:00am and finish the tournament against Huntington (Ind.) at 1:00pm.