DECATUR, Ill. - The Carthage College women's volleyball team took down the No. 2 seed Millikin on Thursday night in five sets in the semifinals of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament. 


 

• Final score: Carthage 3 - Millikin 2
• Location: Decatur, Illinois - Griswold P.E. Center
• Records: Carthage 18-12, Millikin 22-11

• In the first set, Kristina Manojlovic notched a kill for a 10-7 score in favor of the Firebirds. 
• Kills from Liv Carel and Katie Boston made it 16-12 before the Big Blue battled back, tying it at 19. 
• A block from Katie Boston and a kill from Carel won the set 25-21. 
• A Leena Ajibola kill put the visitors in front 13-8 in the second.  
• Carel used an ace, putting the Firebirds up by five. 
• Kills from Kaitie Rohe won the second set 25-17. 
• Millikin turned the tables in the third, going up by five. 
• An ace from Ajibola narrowed the gap to 21-18, but the Big Blue took the set 25-18, scoring the final four points. 
• Kills from Rohe and Ajibola saw Carthage control a one-point lead in the fourth. 
• After a Devinn Bell ace, Millikin went on a 7-2 run, forcing a fifth set 25-21. 
• The Big Blue started with a 5-1 score before the Firebirds rallied, getting within one with a Ajibola kill. 
• Though Millikin went ahead by three, five straight points won the match as Manojlovic and Ajibola connected on kills. 

• Liv Carel led the Firebirds in kills, finishing with a match-best 14, followed closely by Kaitie Rohe with 12 and Leena Ajibola with 11. 
• Cassidy Stahl had a match-best three aces, while Devinn Bell tallied 49 assists. 
• Jenna Damon poured in 19 digs, while Bell recorded 17. 

"What a hard-fought match!  It's a really exciting atmosphere!  Saying I am proud of the team's grit doesn't seem enough.  We played our best volleyball of the year in sets one and two! They made some adjustments and put the pressure on throughout the rest of the match. What a great service run by Kinsey Bakhaus coming off the bench to seal the set and the match. It was really a team effort!! Excited to keep playing and head to North Park on Saturday!"

• Carthage will play the top-seed North Park in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Finals, a rematch of last year's finals. 
• The Firebirds will travel to the Vikings on Saturday, November 11, at 7 p.m.