GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Carthage College Lady Reds volleyball team has earned the right to return to Grand Rapids, Michigan next week following a four-set win over host Calvin College to win the 2015 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Grand Rapids Regional.
 
Carthage will open the 2015 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship quarterfinals Thursday at Van Noord Arena.
 
The opener was back-and-forth throughout the set with Calvin taking a 1-0 advantage in the match with a 27-25 win.  Leading late, the Lady Reds struggled to keep their attacks in-play allowing Calvin to get back in the set and eventually win it.  For Carthage, Stephanie Korbakes led the Lady Reds in hitting at .455 in the set.  However, Calvin would hit .227 as a team in the set compared to Carthage's .174, which would doom the Lady Reds.
 
The Lady Reds rebounded in a big way in the second set with one of the best sets of the tournament hitting .615 to even the match at ones.  Led by Emily Heuermann who had five kills on six attacks, the Lady Reds finished with 17 kills on 26 total attacks with only a single error.  Additionally, Carthage overcame service errors to land four aces including two by Karen Chin to win the set 25-17.
 
The third set saw a reversal of what happened in the first set, as Carthage took advantage of Calvin's hitting errors.  While the Lady Reds only completed 13 kills in the set, Calvin had just nine while recording eight attacking errors to give Carthage a 2-1 lead in the match.  After a shaky first set, Jaime Dickinson returned to form to put away a team-high five kills in the set and had two aces for the Lady Reds in the set.  Dickinson's final kill of the set earned Carthage the 25-14 win.
 
The fourth set was a continuation of the third with Calvin unable to find their hitting stroke.  Although the Lady Reds hit a low of .093 in the set, Calvin helped Carthage out with their own tough times by attacking -.024 in the fourth.  For the second set in a row, Jaime Dickinson recorded two aces with the team serving for four in the set.  Dickinson and senior Emily Heuerman ended the match following a long volley as the two went up and blocked Calvin for the final point of the match and just Calvin's fourth-ever loss at Van Noord Arena, which was built in 2009.
 
The senior trio of Karen Chin, Bria Hailey and Emily Heuermann led the way for the Lady Reds as Chin had 40 assists, Hailey hit a team-high .583, and Heuermann had a match-high 18 kills.  Stefanie Korbakes finished the match with ten kills, while Jaime Dickinson added twelve kills and six service aces. 
 
Defensively, Luci Krenzke had a match-high 17 digs and was joined in double-figures by Dickinson with 16, Heuermann with 15 and Chin with 13. 
 
As a team Carthage dominated at the net recording 18 total blocks to Calvin's three.  Stefanie Romanowski led all blockers with eight total blocks in the match.
 
Following the match, Emily Heuermann, Luci Krenzke, Stephanie Korbakes and Karen Chin were named to the Grand Rapids All-Regional Team, with Chin being named the region's Most Valuable Performer.
 
Carthage will wait to learn of their next opponent, as Randolph-Macon and Stockton will play for the right to go to the NCAA quarterfinals Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EST.  Quarterfinal times for Thursday, November 19th will be announced Sunday or Monday following the conclusion of the regional tournaments.