CHICAGO, Ill. — The No. 4 Carthage College women's volleyball team defeated No. 2 Chicago 3-2 in five-sets in the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament Chicago Regional Finals Sunday at the Ratner Center. The Lady Reds advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2015 with the win. 

Carthage (30-3) jumped out to a 5-3 margin to start the first before Chicago (28-4) battled back to take the lead at 9-7 forcing a Lady Reds timeout. Carthage regained the lead with a kill from Megan Behrendt at 12-11. Back-to-back kills for the Maroons switched the score to 14-12 until the Lady Reds once again tied the set at 15. A kill from Shannon Kebisek gave Carthage a four-point margin (20-16) however, Chicago rallied late to tie the set at 24 before collecting the two points to take a one-set lead. 

In the second set, the Lady Reds started with a 8-3 advantage sparked by back-to-back service aces from Autumn McGee. The Maroons retaliated to cut the lead to one at 12-11. Later in the set, another kill from Behrendt made the score 20-16 and a final kill from Haley Horner tied the match at one set apiece. 

Carthage jumped out to a 7-1 advantage to start the third. Chicago climbed back to shrink the deficit to 10-6. An attack error for the Maroons made the score 15-8. A kill from Behrendt and a Chicago attack error gave the Lady Reds a two-set lead at 25-17. 

The Maroons started the fourth with a 11-4 lead before Carthage battled back to tie it at 20. Chicago went on to force a fifth set at 25-21. 

It was a back-and-forth effort to start the fifth with the score knotted at five. Back-to-back kills for the Maroons made it 7-5 and later made it 11-10 off an attack error. The Lady Reds responded with four unanswered points to take the 15-12 victory. 

The NCAA Championships begin on Thursday, November 21 and will be held at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

All-Tournament Team

 Amanda Walker, CMS
Emma Griffith, Chicago
Madison Pearson, Chicago
Carlie Craycraft, Otterbein
Megan Behrendt, Carthage
Haley Horner, Carthage
Ellie LeCount, Carthage – MVP
 

Post-Match Interview 

Quick Facts

• Ellie LeCount registered a career-high 60 assists. 
• Carthage had three Lady Reds finish in double-digit kills: Megan Behrendt (17), Haley Horner (17) and Shannon Kebisek (13).
• Behrendt also recorded 22 digs while LeCount finished the match with four service aces. 
• The victory marked the third NCAA Regional title in program history. 
• This is the program's third-straight NCAA appearance, 13th overall and eighth regional final appearance since 2007.

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