No. 4 Washington University Into the NCAA Division III Championship Match

WU-WITT BOX | NOTES | PHOTOS

Bloomington, Ill., November 16, 2007 – The No. 4 Washington University volleyball will play in the NCAA Division III Championship match for the second-straight season, after knocking off the undefeated No. 1 Wittenberg University Tigers, 3-1, in the national semifinals in Bloomington, Ill., on Friday. The Bears had lost to Wittenberg by the same score on Sept. 8, making it the second night in a row that WU avenged a loss it suffered to a team earlier in the season.

The berth in the National Title match is Washington U.’s fifth over the past six seasons, and will serve as a rematch of the 2002 National Championship match, which the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater won, 3-0.

Wittenberg came from behind to take a hotly contested game one. Washington U. opened up a 17-12 lead midway through the frame, forcing a Wittenberg timeout. Following the break, the Tigers closed the game on an 18-8 scoring run. Wittenberg took a 23-22 lead, its first since the score was 9-8, on a kill from Jan Kehres. But, a kill from WU senior Haleigh Spencer tied the score at 23-23.

Wittenberg responded with a 4-0 run, which the Bears finally snapped with a block from Spencer and senior Ellen Bruegge. However, ending the run would not be enough, and the Tigers won game one by five points. Junior Alli Alberts had a team-high four kills in the first frame.

Game two began similarly to game one, with Washington U. leading for much of the early part of the frame. The Bears maintained a one or two point lead through the first 20 points of the game, eventually stretching their advantage to three points, with the score at 13-10. Wittenberg responded and came back to tie the score at 18-18, but Washington U. turned the momentum right back to its favor with a 10-5 scoring run that put the game out of reach. Junior Nikki Morrison was crucial for the WU offense, tallying six kills in the second game.

Wittenberg quickly took back the momentum in the beginning of game three. The Tigers sprinted out to a 15-8 lead in the frame, threatening to pull away and take a 2-1 lead. But trailing by seven points, Washington U. rallied, going on a 12-3 scoring run to seize a 20-18 lead. The WU run was capped off by a solo block from Bruegge, who was critical to the team’s ability to put Wittenberg away in the third game.

Bruegge recorded four kills in game three, and had tallied 10 total blocks for the match by the end of the third frame. During a stretch when Washington U. increased its lead from 19-18 to 24-21, Bruegge had a hand in four of the Bears’ five points, with two kills and two solo blocks.

Wittenberg did manage to climb back into the third game, tying the score at 27-27, but kills from Alberts and Spencer, to go along with an ace from senior Lindsay Schuessler clinched the game for WU.

Game three proved to be the most crucial of the match, as Washington U. harnessed its energy from the game three win to cruise to a 30-15 victory in the fourth frame. The Bears got off to a 12-3 start in game number four and never looked back. Washington U. hit a staggering .630 as a team in the fourth frame.

Morrison was an offensive force for WU, tallying 19 kills and hitting .484 in the match.  Spencer played a tremendous fourth game.  Prior to her kill on the final point of game three, Spencer had six kills and six attack errors.  She notched five kills to just one error in decisive fourth frame.

Bruegge finished the match with eight kills, and 11 total blocks, four solo and seven block assists.  As a team WU tallied 17.5 total blocks, its highest total of the season.  Junior setter Audra Janak had 54 assists, five kills, four digs and three block assists.  Sophomore libero Laura Brazeal led the Bears with 29 digs.

Washington U. will face No. 5 UW-Whitewater in the National Championship match on Saturday, Nov. 17, in Bloomington, Ill. The contest will begin at 7 p.m.