The Carthage College women's volleyball team (11-2, 1-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked eighth in the Sept. 13 American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, went 4-0 to win the Friday-Saturday, Sept. 16-17 Trinity University (Texas) National Invitational at the Earl C. Sams Gymnasium in San Antonio, Texas.
Carthage won a pair of matches on Friday afternoon, Sept. 16 with a 3-0 win over Texas Lutheran University (6-3) before sweeping No. 10 Southwestern University (8-1), also 3-0. The Lady Reds' winning set scores over the Bulldogs were 25-22, 25-12 and 25-14, and their scores over the Pirates were 25-15, 25-19 and 25-21. With the win over Southwestern (Texas) on Friday, Carthage women's volleyball coach Leanne Ulmer won her 300th career match. (300-83, .783 winning percentage, 10 years thru Sept. 16, ranked 10th, by winning percentage, among active NCAA Division III coaches thru the 2010 season).
On Saturday, Sept. 17, Carthage swept No. 7 the University of St. Thomas (Minn., 10-2), 3-0, before outlasting Trinity (Texas, 5-7), 3-1. The Lady Reds winning scores over the Tommies were 25-18, 25-22 and 25-19, and their winning scores over the Tigers were 28-26, 21-25, 25-20 and 25-16.
Against Texas Lutheran, outside hitter Lauren Dembkowski (Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Arlington Heights-Hersey) had a team-high 11 kills and hit .310. In the Southwestern (Texas) contest, outside hitter Michelle Madeja (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had 10 kills and hit .269, while Dembkowski collected 10 kills with a .171 attack. Middle blocker Cindy Cavanagh (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Aurora-Waubonsie Valley) had three block solos and three block assists. Madeja collected 13 kills and hit .205 against Southwestern (Texas) and 24 kills with a .489 attack percentage in the Trinity (Texas) contest. Dembkowski had 19 kills and hit .319 against Trinity (Texas), and setter Drewann Pancratz (Sr. Schaumburg, Ill.) averaged 13.25 assists per set. Madeja and Pancratz were named to the all-tournament team. Carthage plays host to CCIW-opponent Wheaton College (Ill., 8-4, 1-0 CCIW) on Tuesday, Sept. 20 in a 7 p.m. match at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
