KENOSHA, Wis. – The Carthage College women's volleyball team (5-4) opened 2016 play at Tarble Arena in the 2016 Carthage College Invitational against the Dominican University Stars (2-7).
 
The Lady Reds easily took the first set outscoring the stars 25-20. More of the same occurred in the second set as Carthage took a 2-0 lead with a 25-19 win. Rachel Mickey finished the second set with an attack percentage of 1.000 and six kills.
 
The Lady Reds discovered a resilient and powerful Dominican team in the third set. Dominican took an early 6-2 lead in the third set due to multiple attack errors by Carthage. Up 9-8, the Stars would make a four-point run to extend their lead to 13-8. The Lady Reds would eventually tie the score at 21-21 thanks to a three-point run with Luci Krenzke behind the line.
 
It seemed as if a fourth set would be played as the Stars regrouped and took a 24-21 lead. The Lady Reds weren't going to go down without a fight ash they came back with a four-point run to take the lead 25-24. The lead would change twice more before the Lady Reds and the Stars found themselves tied 28-28. A ball handling error by Dominican would give Carthage a 29-28 lead. Finally, Ellie LeCount made an impressive service ace to earn the Lady Reds the 30-28 win, securing a 3-0 sweep of Dominican.
 
"Well, it was great to get our first home win," said head coach Leanne Ulmer. "The crowd was awesome tonight. I just love our school and I love the enthusiasm that they bring out for the girls. It might not have been our best match, I think the girls were a little bit nervous, but it was a nice comeback in set three to finish them out. I thought our middles did a good job tonight once we settled down from the service line and we got some runs. Stepahnie Korbakes had some big kills for us tonight. We'll take it and we are excited for tomorrow."
 
As a team, the Lady Reds collected 42 kills, five service aces, four blocks, 35 assists, 53 digs, and hit .171. Stephanie Korbakes led the team in Kills with 11, accompanied by Anna Kinell with eight and Rachel Mickey with seven. Ellie LeCount recorded recorded three service aces and Rachel Mickey connected on four blocks. Abigail McGowan recorded 24 assists and Luci Krenzke made 12 digs.
 
The Lady Reds return to Tarble Arena on Saturday, September 17^th as the take on Concordia University (Wis.) at Noon in day two of the 2016 Carthage College Invitational. The Lady Reds will round out the day with a 4 p.m. match against the University of Chicago.