Box Score

The Carthage College women's volleyball team (33-6), ranked eighth in the final, regular-season American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, lost to No. 4 Washington University (Mo., 31-4), 3-0, on Saturday, Nov. 14 in the title match of the NCAA Division III Central Regional Championship at the Washington Field House in St. Louis, Mo. The Bears' winning set scores over the Lady Reds were 26-24, 25-23 and 25-12. Carthage made its fifth-consecutive NCAA regional appearance and its third-consecutive regional-final appearance.

 

Carthage advanced to an NCAA regional championship match for the third-straight year with a 3-0 sweep of No. 22 Nebraska Wesleyan University (18-12) on Friday, Nov. 13 in the semifinals.  The Lady Reds' winning set scores over the Prairie Wolves were 25-13, 28-26 and 25-19.  No. 4 Washington (Mo., 30-4) defeated No. 30 St. Mary's University (Minn., 22-10), 3-1, in the other semifinal on Nov. 13, with the Bears winning, 25-21, 24-26, 25-18 and 25-22. 

 

Carthage opened play in the 62-team NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship on Thursday, Nov. 12 with a 3-0 sweep of Simpson College (21-14) in the quarterfinal.  In the other quarterfinal contests, No. 22 Nebraska Wesleyan University (18-11) defeated Wisconsin-Platteville (22-15), 3-1,; No. 30 St. Mary's University (Minn., 22-9) defeated Thomas More College (28-11), 3-1; and top-seeded and No. 4 Washington (Mo., 29-4) swept Webster University (20-13), 3-0.  Nebraska Wesleyan's winning set scores over Wisconsin-Platteville were 25-17, 20-25, 26-24 and 25-21.  St. Mary's winning scores over Thomas More were 23-25, 25-21, 25-20 and 27-25.  Washington's winning set scores over Webster were 25-17, 25-14 and 25-23.

 

The first set was everything you'd expect from a championship match with 13 ties. No more than two points separated the two teams in the early going. Carthage had a two-point lead of five occasions, the last at 15-13, before Washington took a 17-15 edge. The Bears never trailed after that, although the Lady Reds tied the set four times, including 24-24 after trailing, 24-22. Washington won the final two points for a 26-24 margin, the final point coming on an attack error by Amanda Matusky.

 

Carthage fell behind, 5-2, in set two but came back to take a 7-5 lead. After that the match settled into another slugfest, much like the first set. Once the Bears tied things at 7-7, no more than a point separated the two teams until Carthage opened up a two-point edge, 19-17. Still leading by two, 22-20, the Lady Reds were unable to put the Bears away. Washington tied the set at 22-22. Coach Leanne Ulmer called a timeout, and then called a second timeout with a 24-23 deficit, but an attack error by Lauren Dembkowski gave the Bears a 25-23 decision and a 2-0 edge in the match. There were 16 ties in set two.

 

The emotion of the first two sets may have drained Carthage a bit, as the Lady Reds fell behind quickly in set three, 9-3. However, the never-say-die Carthage squad rallied to within three points, 10-7. The Bears took off at that point, running off five unanswered points to open up an eight-point lead, 15-7. Washington increased the margin to a nine-point edge, 17-8, and went to win by 13 points, 25-12.

 

Carthage's Lauren Dembkowski (So., Mount Prospect, Ill./Arlington Heights-Hersey) had 10  kills and hit .237, while Lauren Budde led the Bears with 12 kills and a .226 attack percentage. Washington setter Marilee Fisher was named the tournament MVP. Also named to the all-tournament team were Lauren Budde and Kelly Pang from Washington (Mo.), Rachel Swoboda and Lauren Dembkowski from Carthage, Ashley Jedlicka from Nebraska Wesleyan and Sarah Gardner from St. Mary's (Minn.).

“The first set was like a prize fight," said Carthage coach Leanne Ulmer.  "We throw a punch, and they throw a punch. It came down to a couple of points at the end. I give Washington all the credit, because they made some great plays when they needed to. We didn't make the plays at the end like we needed to. The second set was more of the same. We had our chances to put that second set away, particularly at 22-20, but we just didn't get it done. We've been doing it all year, but who knows why these things happen? We just needed one big play to win either of the first two sets. The third set was different. Washington kept the pressure on us, and I think we lost some of our confidence. Once it goes South, it's hard to get it turned back around. We could have been up, 2-0, but we were down, 0-2. Washington played a pretty clean match, and we probably had a few unforced errors. It's frustrating to keep getting to this point in the tournament and not getting past it. It's heartbreaking for the kids, but hopefully we can get back here and take that next step.”