Women's Volleyball Tournament matches feature four sweeps
LIVONIA, Mich. - (TOURNAMENT PAGE) - The quarterfinals of the 2021 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Women's Volleyball Tournament saw all four victors win in three straight sets. Top-seeded Madonna def. No. 8 UM-Dearborn (25-10, 25-22, 25-15) in an afternoon match to start play while No. 2 Cornerstone eliminated No. 7 Lourdes 26-24, 25-18, 25-18 in a night contest. Third-seeded Indiana Tech took care of No. 6 Concordia 25-13, 25-14, 25-19 while fifth-seeded Siena Heights posted the lone upset with sets of 25-19, 25-22, 25-15 to defeat No. 3 Aquinas.
Action now travels to Madonna as the Crusaders host the semifinals and finals on Nov. 12-13. The winner of the tournament receives the league's second automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
#1 Madonna (18-2/27-5) def. #8 UM-Dearborn (6-14/8-24), 3-0 (25-10, 25-22, 25-15)
Madonna went on a 10-0 run to take a 14-3 lead in the first set. UM-Dearborn's comeback was cut short after MU went on a 5-0 run for a 19-4 advantage. After back-and-forth points, the Crusaders closed out the set on a kill from Jodie Kelly and an attack error on the Wolverines. UMD jumped to the early 3-0 lead in set two on back-to-back kills from Kielee Tondryk and Brooke Wetherill. The teams stayed within a couple of points of each other until MU posted a 6-3 run to hold its largest lead at 14-11. The teams traded points again and the Wolverines tied it up at 20-20. After an attack error on UMD, Madonna finished with a kill from Jodie Kelly. MU opened the third set with a 6-1 run and never allowed the Wolverines to get closer than three points.
Stat Leaders
Kills: Sliwinski 10 (UMD); Kelly, Stoneburner 9 (MU)
Assists: Giacomini 25 (UMD); Dawson 25 (MU)
Digs: Mertz 13 (UMD); Kelly 15 (MU)
#5 Siena Heights (13-7/19-1) def. #4 Aquinas (13-7/18-12), 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-15)
The Saints hopped out to a quick 10-6 lead early in the opening set on the way to building a 24-17 lead in the later points. Two-straight points from Aquinas cut the lead to five, but a kill by Marinelo gave SHU the final point to secure the 1-0 lead. The second frame saw another SHU lead late. This time the advantage was 20-13. The home team cut things down to the slimmest of margins, 23-22. A block by Marinelo gave SHU the setpoint, and a kill by Olivia Norman sealed the 2-0 advantage. The AQ Saints built a 6-2 lead in the third, but a 6-1 run by Siena a few plays later gave SHU a 10-9 edge. The score remained close to a tie at 14 before the SHU Saints used a 4-0 run to build a 4-point cushion. The Saints closed out the match with an 11-1 run to advance in the league tournament.
Stat Leaders
Kills: Carsten, Ruhlman 8 (SHU); Teachworth, Kraus 8 (AQ)
Assists: Bates 28 (SHU); Mitchell 22 (AQ)
Digs: Carsten 8 (SHU); Yondo, Dobosiewicz 6 (AQ)
#3 Indiana Tech (15-5/24-12) def. #6 Concordia (10-10/14-17), 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-19)
Tech got out to a 6-3 lead to start off the match only to see the Cardinals go on a 3-0 run to tie it up at 6-6. A 7-1 run from the Warriors put them back up 13-7 though and they never looked back as they grew their lead to 20-12 before ending the set on a 5-0 run that was capped by a Mallory Green service ace. IT started the second on a 5-0 run before extending their advantage to 10-4 thanks to three kills from Paul over a 4-0 spurt for the hosts. The Orange and Black continued to push the lead over the Cardinals and were never threatened as they went up 2-0 with the 25-14 win. Concordia came out ready to fight in the third set with an early 3-2 lead, but the Warriors responded with an 11-3 spurt to go ahead 13-6 that was capped by a 5-0 run that featured four points from Cummings on three blocks and a kill. The Cardinals cut the deficit down to 16-12 but Tech roared back with a 5-2 run to make it a 21-14 lead. Concordia managed to fight off three match points to cut the deficit to six points, but Schladenbrand sealed the win with a kill.
Stat Leaders
Kills: Peters 12 (CUAA); Westra 11 (IT)
Assists: Austin 24 (CUAA); Schaldenbrand 19 (IT)
Digs: VanOort 21 (IT)Peters 15 (CUAA)
#2 Cornerstone (16-4/23-13) def. #7 Lourdes (8-12/12-18) 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-18)
Lourdes tallied just six kills in the opening set and hit .000 for the stanza, but still pushed the set to extra points. Cornerstone committed 11 attack errors. he Gray Wolves jumped out to an early 11-6 advantage before the Golden Eagles fought back to take a 13-12 edge. Lourdes scored the next five points to regain the lead, and carried it into the late stages of the set. The Gray Wolves had a pair of set points leading 24-22 only to see the hosts post the final four tallies of the stanza to take the set. Cornerstone held a slim 10-9 lead in set two before a 7-1 run allowed the Golden Eagles some separation. After trailing by as many as nine, the Gray Wolves were able to pull within 23-17 late, but could not complete the comeback. Cornerstone hit .324 in the frame in taking the 2-0 lead in the match. The Golden Eagles never trailed in the third set, building an early 6-2 lead. The advantage grew to six, 12-6, before Lourdes made a run, pulling to within two, 13-11. Again, Cornerstone ran off five consecutive points to push the lead back to seven. Trailing 19-12, the Gray Wolves made one last spurt. Five straight points made it a two-point game, but Cornerstone got three straight kills to finish
Stat Leaders
Kills: Walters 15 (CS); Gentile 8 (LU)
Assists: Lenz 38 (CS); Stakolich 17 (LU)
Digs: Plasencio 20 (LU); Morris 18 (CS)