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Carthage Sweeps Elmhurst at the NCAA Regional Semifinals
Carthage
3, Elmhurst 0
Washington
(Mo.) 3, Chicago 0
The Carthage College women's volleyball team (32-6, 7-0 College
Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked ninth in the Nov. 8
American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll,
advanced to the regional finals of the NCAA Division III Women's
Volleyball Championship on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 12 with a 3-0
sweep of CCIW-member and No. 16 Elmhurst College (31-6) in the
Saturday, Nov. 12 semifinals at the Washington University Field
House in St. Louis, Mo. The Lady Reds' winning set scores
over the Bluejays were 25-20, 25-19 and 27-25. Carthage
opened regional play on Friday, Nov. 11 with a 3-0 sweep of
Edgewood College (21-14) with winning scores of 25-13, 25-12 and
25-16.
Also on Carthage's side of the regional quarterfinals bracket,
Elmhurst (31-5) outlasted Cornell College (28-6), 3-2, in Friday's
opening match. The Bluejays' winning set scores over the Rams
were 25-17, 20-25, 18-25, 25-21 and 15-10. In the third
quarterfinal match, No. 15 the University of Chicago (30-5)
defeated No. 21 Wisconsin-Whitewater (26-8), 3-1, with winning
scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-14 and 25-16. No. 2 Washington
(Mo., 33-1) swept Webster University (19-13), 3-0, in the final
quarterfinal match, with winning scores of 25-17, 25-9 and
25-17. Washington (Mo., 34-1) swept Chicago (30-6), 3-0,
in Saturday's second semifinal with winning set scores of 25-17,
25-22 and 25-16. Carthage (32-6) will play Washington (Mo.,
34-1) for the regional title at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13.
This was the fourth meeting this year between the Lady Reds and
the Bluejays. Carthage won a regular-season CCIW match at
Elmhurst, 3-1, on Sept. 27; lost a 3-2 contest on Oct. 8 at the
Wisconsin-Platteville Tournament; and won a 3-2 match on Nov. 5 at
Tarble Arena to win the CCIW Women's Volleyball
Tournament.
Carthage pulled away to an 18-11 lead in the first set.
Elmhurst pulled to within two, 22-20, but the Lady Reds ran
off the final three points for a 25-20 decision. Carthage
fell behind, 10-6, in the second set before taking a 17-16
lead The Lady Reds took eight of the last 11 points to win,
25-19. The Bluejays pulled away to a 20-14 lead in set three,
but Carthage tied the set at 23 all. Following ties of 24-24
and 25-25, the Lady Reds took the final two points for the 27-25
win and a sweep of the Bluejays.
“We were down in sets two and three and came back to win,
and that was great,” said Carthage coach Leanne
Ulmer. “When we got down, I told our girls we
just needed to control the passing. We seemed to take our
foot off the pedal for a few minutes, and I wanted to make sure we
were playing aggressively. I say what I say, and this team
just responds. This group is so experience, and we've played
such a tough schedule, we've been in those kinds of spots
before.”
Michelle
Madeja (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) led Carthage
with 12 kills and a .200 attack percentage. Dani
Steffa (Sr., Oregon, Ill.) had 10 kills with a .389
attack percentage, and Lauren
Dembkowski (Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Arlington
Heights-Hersey) added 10 kills. Setter Drewann
Pancratz (Sr., Schaumburg, Ill.) averaged 8.00 assists
per set. Antoney Veasy Smith led the Bluejays with 16 kills,
while hitting .351. “Dani
Steffa was awesome,” said Ulmer. “She
and Jordan
Burkholder are kind of our aces in the hole. Both
have the ability to be game-changes, and tonight, Dani was just
that.”
“We played a tremendous match,” said Ulmer, “and
I'm so happy for my girls. To beat Elmhurst in three sets, or
to beat anyone in an NCAA regional semifinal in three seats is a
big deal. We're playing great right now, as well as we've
played all year. Washington University, if that's who we're
playing tomorrow, is obviously a great team. We just have to
beat them once. We're excited about this chance. I
think we'll play well, but we're going to have to be at our
best.”
This is Carthage's eighth NCAA appearances and seventh in a
row. The Lady Reds qualified for the regional championship in
1990 and again from 2005 to 2010. After bowing out in the
quarterfinals in both 2005 and 2006, the 2007, 2008 and 2009 squads
reached the regional-championship match. The 2007 team lost
to Washington University (Mo.), 3-1, at the Carthage Physical
Education Center. The 2008 team fell to Wisconsin-Oshkosh,
3-2, at the Kolf Sports Center in Oshkosh, Wis., and the 2009 squad
lost to Washington University (Mo.), 3-0, in St. Louis, Mo.
The 2010 squad lost in the regional semifinals at Tarble Arena in
Kenosha, Wis.
