GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Carthage College women's volleyball team (35-7, 5-2 CCIW) took on the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College in the quarterfinals of the 2015 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship at Calvin College on Thursday, November 19th.

The national semifinals appearance will be the second in school history.  The Lady Reds reached the semifinals back in 2011 before falling to Christopher Newport University.

As a team, the Lady Reds outhit the Yellow Jackets .161 to .115 and earned a 10-5 advantage in blocks in the match.
 
The first set saw the Lady Reds overcome a terrible hitting start to open the match, in which it looked as though Carthage was going to give the Yellow Jackets the set.  The Lady Reds trailed by as many as seven early in the set before Carthage began to mount their comeback.  Eventually drawing the match even at 20-20, Stephanie Korbakes took over on both the offensive and defensive end.  Korbakes finished off kills on three of the Lady Reds final five points, including the set's winner off a Karen Chin set.  Chin finished with 13 assists in the set, while Korbakes finished hitting .538 with seven kills and four block assists on four total team blocks.
 
The second set saw the Lady Reds once again continue to struggle on the attack, however the Lady Reds were able to take advantage of the Yellow Jackets misfortune of hitting .041 in the set with 11 attack errors to give the Lady Reds a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 win.   Carthage took over early in the second set, adding another five blocks in the set to give the Lady Reds nine in the match through the second set.
 
The third set started with each team going point-for-point until the Yellow Jackets went on a an eight-point run to take the lead 12-5. A few points later with the score at 15-8 in favor of Randolph-Macon.  The Lady Reds would then go on a six-point run that included three service aces by Emily Heuermann to bring the score within one at 14-15. The Yellow Jackets would respond with a six-point run of their own to retake 21-14 lead. Two errors by the Yellow Jackets and kills from Anna Kinell and Stephanie Korbakes would bring the Lady Reds within three, 18-21. A few points later Randolph-Macon would commit an attack error that would tie the game 23-23. The score would be tied at 24's and 25's before an attack error by the Lady Reds would give Randolph-Macon a 26-25 lead. The Lady Reds were not going to let this set slip away from them. Heuermann, along with Stefanie Romanowski and Stephanie Korbakes each rattled off kills that would give the Lady Reds the set, 28-26. The win earned Carthage the 3-0 sweep over the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College and secured them a spot in the semifinal match.

Karen Chin paced the Lady Reds with 37 assists with 13 going to Korbakes and Heuermann each as they tied for the team lead in kills.  Korbakes added a match-high five blocks and Lucy Krenzke added 18 digs to lead the Lady Reds.
 
The Lady Reds will take on California Lutheran University at 7:30 p.m. EST on Friday, November 20th in the semifinal match of the 2015 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship.