The Carthage College women's volleyball team (12-1), ranked sixth in the Sept. 22 AVCA Top 25 Poll, took on the Blue Devils of UW-Stout on Friday, Sept. 25th on the campus of UW-Whitewater in Whitewater, Wis.
 
The Lady Reds took an early lead in the first set with a 4-point run to take the lead 4-1. After a bit of back and forth scoring, Carthage was able to take full control of the game and continue their lead with a score of 17-11 thanks to a 3-point run that included kills from Stephanie Korbakes and Jaime Dickinson, as well as a service ace by Luci Krenzke. Carthage would not lose their lead and would go on to win the first set 25-17 on a kill by Stefanie Romanowski.
 
Carthage was even more dominant in the second set of the match. Two errors by the Blue Devils gave the Lady Reds the early lead, 2-0. UW-Stout was not willing to be silence and would tie the game back up at 3-3 and again at 4-4. The Lady Reds took back control of the set with a kill by Dickinson and a service ace by Rachael Kisten to make the score 6-4. The Blue Devils would win one more point before Carthage would go on a 5-point run to make the score 11-5. Carthage's would continue to have the upper hand in the set as the would win 25-13, making the score 2-0 in favor of the Lady Reds.
 
The third set showed a more tenacious UW-Stout team. The set started with a Blue Devil service error to put Carthage up 1-0. Next, two kills by UW-Stout's Ashley Pratt would give the Blue Devils their second lead of the match at 2-1. The Lady Reds would tie up the set at 2-2 with a kill by Romanowski. The Blue Devils were not ready to be silences and they would win the next two points. Carthage's Dickinson would respond quickly with a kill, and the Blue Devils would come right back with a kill by Kennedy Strain. Dickinson was the answer for the Lady Reds again, making the score 4-5. Strain would once again answer with a kill for UW-Stout.
 
The Lady Reds were not willing to let the Blue Devils take this set away from them. A 5-point run by Carthage would make the score 8-6. UW-Stout would then make a three-point run to take the lead once again at 9-8. A kill by Emily Heuermann and two attack errors by the Blue devils would put the Lady Reds back on top. It wouldn't be long, however, before UW-Stout would tie the game back up at 11-11. The Lady Reds finally found the motivation they needed to overtake the Blue Devils, going on a three-point run and keeping the lead for the rest of the game. The Lady Reds would win the set 25-20 and secure the 3-0 victory over UW-Stout.
 
Korbakes, Heuermann and Dickinson each recorded eight kills in the match. Mallory Parsons earned four service aces and Romanowski had six blocks against the Blue Devils. Krenzke had 11 digs along with Korbakes and Parsons who each had 8 in the match.  The reigning CCIW Player of the Week, Karen Chin, recorded 33 assists throught the three sets. As a team, the Lady Reds had 37 kills, six aces, nine blocks, 37 assists, 41 digs and hit .354.
 
The Lady Reds will face #15 UW-Whitewater on Saturday, Sept. 26th at 10 a.m., followed by a match with #25 Williams College at Noon. Both matches will be played at Kris Russell Volleyball Arena on the campus of UW-Whitewater.