The Carthage College women's volleyball team (4-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 11th in the pre-season American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, opened its 2011 season by going 4-0 to win the Friday-Saturday, Sept. 2-3 Wisconsin-Eau Claire "Labor Day Classic" at the McPhee Physical Education Center in Eau Claire, Wis.
On Friday, Sept. 2, Carthage swept the College of St. Benedict (0-1), 3-0, before defeating No. 20 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1-1), 3-1. The Lady Reds' winning set scores over the Blazers were 25-20, 25-22 and 25-23, and their winning scores over the Blugolds were 25-16, 25-15, 20-25 and 25-11. On Saturday, Sept. 3, the Lady Reds swept Lawrence University (0-3), 3-0, before upending Concordia College (Moorhead, 2-1) by a 3-1 margin. Carthage's winning scores over Lawrence were 25-12, 25-17 and 25-15, and its scores over Concordia (Moorhead) were 25-17, 25-19, 23-25 and 25-21.
In the St. Benedict match, outside hitter Michelle Madeja (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) collected a match-high 10 kills. Against Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Madeja had a match-high 12 kills and hit .276. Outside hitter Lauren Dembkowski (Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Arlington Heights-Hersey) had 11 kills, and middle blocker Cindy Cavanagh (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Aurora-Waubonsie Valley) added 10 kills with a .438 attack percentage. Against Lawrence, Madeja and middle blocker Jordan Burkholder (Sr., Rockford, Ill./Christian Life) each had eight kills, with Burkholder hitting .389. In the Concordia (Moorhead) contest, Dembkowski collected 15 kills and hit .267, while Madeja had 13 kills and outside hitter Dani Steffa (Sr., Oregon, Ill.) 11 kills with a .556 hitting mark. Setter Drewann Pancratz (Sr., Schaumburg, Ill.), who averaged 9.86 assists per set, was named to the all-tournament team, along with Cavanagh. Carthage, ranked eighth in the Sept. 6 AVCA national poll, travels to St. Louis, Mo., on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 9-10 to play in the Washington University (Mo.) "ASICS National Invitational" at the Washington Fieldhouse. On Friday, Sept. 9, Carthage takes on No. 6 Christopher Newport University at 5:30 p.m. and No. 2 Washington (Mo.) at 8 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 10, the Lady Reds face No. 35 Ohio Northern University at 10 a.m. and No. 20 Wisconsin-Whitewater at 12:30 p.m.
