CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Carthage College women's volleyball team fell to Emory in five-sets 3-2 in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship Friday at the US Cellular Center. 

It was another back-and-forth match to start as Emory (34-2) controlled a slim 10-7 advantage over Carthage (31-4). The Lady Reds narrowed the gap to one before the Eagles took a one-set lead 25-19. Carthage jumped out to a two-point lead to start the second before Emory battled back to tie it at five and went on to take control of the set at 11-8. Carthage climbed back to cut the margin to two before Emory collected the final two points to take a two-set lead 25-23. 

The Eagles sprang out to a 14-6 score to start the third. Carthage mounted a comeback scoring ten unanswered points to make it 16-14. Another 9-2 run for the Lady Reds gave Carthage the set 25-16. 

The Lady Reds continued the momentum in the fourth taking a 7-4 lead with a kill from Haley Horner. Emory retaliated shrinking the gap to two at 15-13. Later in the set, a kill from Ellie LeCount gave Carthage a 21-17 advantage. The Eagles again responded cutting the lead to 21-19 but Carthage forced a fifth set 25-20. 

In the final set, Emory went up 4-2 to start until the Lady Reds put together five unanswered points to make it 7-4. The Eagles again responded tying the set at seven but a kill from Behrendt made it 10-8. Emory tied the set at 10 and took a one point lead with an Eagles kill. The Lady Reds made a final push tying it at 14 but Emory went on to collect the final two points to take the victory 16-14. 

Carthage ends the season with a 31-4 overall record and an undefeated 8-0 in conference play. 

Post-Match Interview

Quick Facts

• Carthage collected a .321 hitting percentage in the match. 
• Three Lady Reds finished with double-digit kills: Haley Horner (19), Megan Behrendt (15) and Shannon Kebisek (11). 
• Behrendt also had 20 digs for Carthage while Horner and Andrea Kozak each chipped in with six blocks apiece.
• Ellie LeCount concludes her career at Carthage with 4,074 assists for third on the all-time list and eighth on the career aces list after collecting her 200th ace in the match. 
• Megan Behrendt finishes with 1,366 career kills for fifth on the all-time list along with 1,540 digs for fifth. 
• Shannon Kebisek registered 1,088 career kills for 11th on the all-time list and 10th in digs with 1,241. 
• Laura de Rosales finished with 1,050 career digs while Sarah Udoni tallied 42 career kills and 34 career blocks.   
• It marks the 10th time Carthage collected 30 or more wins in a season under the helm of head coach Leanne Ulmer. 

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