The Saints pulled into a three-way tie for third in the MCC with Iowa Wesleyan and Grand View University at 2-1. Ashford toppled the Tigers in Ruble Arena by scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-21 and 25-17, to hand IWC its first loss in conference play.
"It was a really important match for us to get back on the right track," AU Head Coach Micah Cewe said. "The girls came out and showed a lot of fire and it was real encouraging to get a win away from home, especially a conference win."
An impressive .371 hitting percentage set the tone in the first set as the Saints racked up 15 kills against just two errors.
AU rallied in the first set, down by four points early on, and junior middle hitter Kelsay McCausland of Camanche broke a 16-all tie with a kill to spark a 5-0 Saints' run.
McCausland (12) led three players with double-digit kill totals, joining Allison Uceda (14) of Lima, Peru, and Kendra King (10) of Morrison, Ill. Uceda recorded another double-double with a 14-kill and 11-dig effort.
Both teams were plagued by errors in the second set, but Ashford controlled the tempo in the third set, never trailing after the first serve.
A kill from Muriel Miller of Wheaton, Ill., halted early fourth-set IWC momentum after the Tigers opened with a 3-0 lead. The Saints led by as many as 11 points in the final frame and enjoyed an eight-point cushion when the Tigers called a timeout. Fittingly, Miller ended the match with the final kill.
Setters Whitney Miller of Clinton and Liz Gbur of Darien, Ill., combined for 41 assists.
Ashford outdug Iowa Wesleyan, 83-71, thanks for four defensive specialists with double-digit dig totals led by junior Tara Van Zuiden (24). Miller contributed 17 digs while Uceda and Samantha Moller of Silvis, Ill., each had 11.
Ashford returns to the road this weekend when it travels to La Crosse, Wis., for the Viterbo Oktoberfest Tournament. The Saints face MCC foe Waldorf College (4 p.m.) on Friday along with Robert Morris University (8 p.m.).
On Saturday's docket includes morning matchups against Calumet College of St. Joseph (9 a.m.) and the Illinois Institute of Technology (11 a.m.).
