KENOSHA, Wis. - The Carthage College women's volleyball team (11-1, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) came into the second day of the "2015 Carthage Women's Volleyball Invitation" on a high note after beating both Bethel University and No. 5 UW-Stevens Point on Friday, Sept. 18th at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. ,
The Lady Reds would first face the Stars of Dominican University (8-4) in a Noon match. Both teams played competitively and no clear lead appeared until the Lady Reds took a 12-9 advantage in the middle of the first set. Dominican would tie the score back up at 12-12, but the Lady Reds would not lose control of the game. Carthage put the score up to 16-14, but it would not be long until Dominican would tie the score yet again at 17-17. That was the last straw for the Lady Reds in the first set, and they would go on to dominate the rest of the set and take the win 25-19.
Carthage made the first move in the second set, going up 2-0 on the Stars. Dominican would tie the match up at 3, and again at 4, before the Lady Reds took ahold of the reins to ensure their success. Carthage went on a 5-point run to make their lead 9-4, and they would not give up the lead for the remainder of the set. The Lady Reds would win this set 25-19, making their last point off an attack error by Dominican.
The third set proved to be a more comfortable match for Carthage. Dominican took the lead, but the Lady Reds responded and easily took the lead away from the stars, making the score 5-4. Carthage would not lose the lead, and would go on to win the set 25-17 and the match 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-17)
Jaime Dickinson recorded 12 kills in the match with
Karen Chin earning 33 assists and
Luci Krenzke making 16 digs. As a team, the Lady Reds recorded 41 kills, four aces, six blocks, 38 assists and 56 digs., The Lady Reds hit .255 as a team.
Carthage faced the Pioneers of Carroll University (3-10) in their second match of the day in a 4 p.m. matchup. The Lady Reds dominated the first set and easily won 25-16.
The Lady Reds seemed to lose some momentum in the second set and faced quite a challenge in both the Pioneers, but also themselves. The Lady Reds and Pioneers kept the match close for the first few points. Carroll started to pull away, and although Carthage was able to tie the score a few times, they were unable to take control as the Pioneers won the set 25-22.
As the Lady Reds entered the third set, they knew that they would have to attack quickly if they wanted to win this set. Carroll attacked first and set their lead at 3-0 over Carthage. The Pioneers would keep this lead for a lengthy amount of time, as Carthage would not tie the score until it reached 11-11. From there, the Lady Reds would continue their run and reach as score of 14-11 before the Pioneers could score again. From there, the Lady Reds would not lose their lead and would go on to win 25-16. ,
Carthage would keep their momentum as they entered the fourth set and although the Pioneers would tie the game a few times, the Lady Reds would never let Carroll lead. Carthage won the fourth set 25-21, and came out victorious in the match with a score of 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 25-16, 25-21).
"This was a big regional tournament for us and it was great to be home," said head coach
Leanne Ulmer, "Tournaments are tough and a very mental challenge., I thought our match against UW-SP was some great volleyball., We started slow,,did very well in sets 2 and 3 then lost the momentum in set 4. In the 5th set anything can happen and it did., It was a hard fought battle that ended in a two-point win for us., They are a very talented team and it was a great team win.,
Emily Heuermann had a big night with 27 kills and played hard every point.,
Karen Chin is one of the best setters in the region and she was great for us,tonight., I was very proud of the way the girls played against Dominican., After a late night and emotional match to come back against a good regional opponent that was big.,
Jaime Dickinson played very well.,
Rachael Kisten gave us a big lift with some very strong net play., We had to grind it out against Carroll., We were not sharp but we figured out how to get it done., We love playing at home...our fans are the best!!"
Stephanie Korbakes and
Emily Heuermann recorded 16 and 15 kills, respectively, with both Chin and
Rachael Kisten making three aces each in the match. Chin also recorded 40 assists and Krenzke earned 17 digs in the match. As a team, Carthage made 55 kills, seven aces, eight blocks, 51 assists and 61 digs.
Chin and Heuermann were both named to the all-tournament team along with Ragine Graves and Maren Loe from the University of Chicago, Hannah Nimrick from Elmhurst, Emma Brunkhorst from UW-Stevens Point, Katrina Raskie from UW-Eau Claire, and Carlee Hoppe from Bethel.
The Lady Reds will travel to the UW Whitewater from Sept. 25-26 to compete in the "2015 UW-Whitewater Tournament" in Whitewater, Wis. Carthage will face UW-Stout at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, and will take on UW-Whitewater on Saturday, Sept. 26th at 10 a.m. and Williams College at Noon.
