The Blue Streaks would have been forgiven if all they had to show for their efforts today would have been a moral victory. Instead, they went out and got the real thing.

Down two starters and rotating several inexperienced players through the line-up, John Carroll dug deep and snapped a three-match skid with a come-from-behind victory over Capital Saturday at the DeCarlo Varsity Center

Box Score

JCU dropped the opening game by a 25-17 count, but managed to win three of the last four, including the final two. 

The Blue Streaks still seemed to be figuring things out in game two, and trailed at one point by a 10-4 score, but managed to pull things together. JCU would tie the score at 11-11, and would hang with the Crusaders until it scored five of the final seven points to pull out a 25-23 win.

Game three seemed pivotal at first glance. The Streaks held the lead for the majority of the frame, and actually had a chance to serve for a 2-1 lead twice, but Capital fought off those opportunities and prevailed, 27-25.

Rather than be dispirited, John Carroll came out swinging in the fourth set. Scoring 14 of the first 21 points, JCU led wire-to-wire and forced a fifth game with a 25-19 decision. Teresa Noewer's four kills were a big reason behind the surge.

In the fifth game, John Carroll never trailed ... but it was drama filled nonetheless. The Streaks pushed out to a 7-3 advantage, but found themselves tied at 12-12, and again at 14-14. JCU refused to give in, and used a Laura Sudo kill and a combined block by Sudo and Meredith McDiarmid to close out the match.

Noewer led John Carroll (16-13, 4-5 OAC) with 14 kills, while Sarah Slagle and Charlotte Sykora added 11 and Sudo chipped in ten. McDiarmid had 50 assists in her final career home match, and Jess Hammer -- in her first career start at libero -- had a career-high 24 digs.

It was not just the front liners who contributed. Gina Catania had all five of her kills in the final two games. Letty Barbi, appearing in just her fifth career match, had four kills when called upon.

Capital (14-19, 3-6 OAC) was paced by a match-high 18 kills by Emily Heitmeyer, while Elissa Foster had a match-high 25 digs.