The word "bouncebackability" is not officially recognized as a proper word in the English language, but the John Carroll volleyball team displayed a perfect definition nonetheless this weekend at the Case Western Reserve Invitational.

For the uninitiated, bouncebackability is "the ability to be successful again after a period of failure". That was what Saturday was about for the Blue Streaks after a disappointing Friday.

The tournament for John Carroll began Friday evening against the host school, and a painfully slow start led to a sweep at the hands of the Spartans, 25-11, 25-16, 25-22. By the time the Blue Streaks began to find their rhythm in the third game, the mountain proved to steep to climb.

The bounce back took shape on Saturday morning. After dropping the first game against Washington & Jefferson, the resilient Blue Streaks battled hard in game two. JCU staved off three match points -- the last at 27-26 -- before Brooke Hjerpe and Cassi Calamunci each delivered a pair of kills to deliver a 30-28 victory.

That close out of game two was the turning point of the entire weekend. JCU would go on to roll to a 21-25, 30-28, 25-15, 25-18 victory, punctuated with a .317 hitting percentage in the final game. Calamunci (18 kills) and Hjerpe (13 kills) led the offense, while Anna Coughlin (29 digs) and Sarah Calabrese (27 digs) paced the defense. Ally Bartolone served up 36 assists and three aces.

John Carroll rode that momentum into its match-up with Thiel, producing a 25-23, 25-12, 25-20 sweep of the Tomcats. Calamunci (11), Carleen Ellerbruch (8), Ava Nice (6) were efficiently effective in the kills department, while Coughlin was lethal in the service game with six aces. Coughlin also had a team-high 18 digs.

In going 2-1 for the weekend, John Carroll is now 6-2 on the season heading into its home opener against Oberlin Tuesday night. The 6-2 start is the program's best since 2014 (7-1).