NCAA Division III Volleyball Championships

Quarterfinals - Thursday, November 20

Recaps provided by Leah Brock, American Volleyball Coaches Association

OHIO NORTHERN ROARS PAST WILLIAMS AND INTO NATIONAL SEMIFINALS

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (November 20, 2008) – In the final quarterfinal match of the 2008 NCAA Division III Championships, held in Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center, Ohio Northern kept its hot win-streak going, breezing past Williams University in straight sets.
Ohio Northern (34-4) came ready to play in set one, sprinting to a 10-2 lead, before Williams (28-13) roared back to claim eight of the next ten points, making it a 12-10 game in ONU’s favor. The Polar Bears then shut the door on the Ephs, running full steam to a 25-16 set victory. Ohio Northern’s AVCA First-Team All-American tandem of Liz Schnelle and Katie Weininger starred in the frame, with Schnelle drilling seven kills and Weininger producing ten assists, four kills and seven digs. Williams’ AVCA Honorable Mention All-America selection Nicole Ballon-Landa was hard at work in the stanza as well, clubbing five kills of her own.
The Polar Bears continued to show their dominance in set two, taking leads of 7-2, 14-5, and 18-8, before ending the frame with a 25-14 win. ONU simply out-attacked the Ephs, as the Polar Bears hit a very efficient .452 as a team and bashed 17 kills, while Williams was held to a combined .061 hitting percentage with eight kills.
Set three was all Ohio Northern, with the Polar Bears scoring the first seven points of the frame and never looking back en route to a 25-13 match-claiming victory. ONU used a balanced attack,as Schnelle and Abby Schaller evenly split ten kills, while Renee Berry tallied four bombs.
Schnelle had an outstanding performance in the match, recording 19 kills on a .471 attack percentage, also adding two blocks. Weininger chalked up 39 assists, six kills and eight digs, while libero Kasey Roeser totaled 23 digs and four service aces.
For Williams, Ballon-Landa ended the evening with 12 kills, while fellow AVCA Honorable Mention All-American Kate Anderson contributed nine kills. Setter Emily Alvis tallied 21 assists and four digs for the Ephs.
Ohio Northern will now move on to the national semifinals, where it will square-off against Emory University (33-6) on Friday in a 7 p.m. CST start.

EMORY DOWNS ST. BENEDICT 3-1 TO ADVANCE TO NCAA SEMI’S

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (November 20, 2008) – After enduring a bit of a scare in the second set, Emory University regrouped and pulled out all the stops, defeating the College of St. Benedict by a 3-1 margin Thursday evening in the NCAA Division III quarterfinal round.
Emory (33-6) came out of the gates running, building a quick 6-2 lead in the first set and never looked back, in claiming a 25-16 victory. The Eagles served up three aces in the frame and took advantage of three St. Benedict (29-7) service miscues to account for some of the margin. Maggie Baird and Alexandra Wright came up big for the Eagles in the set, combining for five kills and four blocks.
The Blazers appeared to be blazing in the second set, entering a back-and-forth battle with the Eagles and eventually slugging their way to a 15-13 lead. St. Benedict kicked it into overdrive from there, firing off a 10-3 run to close the set, coming away with a 25-16 victory. In a reversal of roles from the first frame, the Blazers burned the Emory passers for seven service aces. Both teams struggled offensively, with St. Benedict combining to hit .071 and Emory turning in a .000 team attack percentage.
After both squads fought to a 5-5 tie to begin set three, Emory slowly began to pull away, taking a 14-9 lead about midway through action. The Eagles jumped into full throttle from there, securing a 25-14 win, partially thanks to seven kills in the frame from Amelia McCall.
It looked as if Emory was going to run away with set four, as well, building an 18-11 lead heading into the homestretch, however St. Benedict would not give up the fight, stringing together five consecutive points to cut the margin to two, 18-16. The Eagles would go on to score three of the next four points to push their lead back to four, and they eventually held on for the 25-20 victory.
McCall led the way for Emory, crushing a match-high 17 kills, while adding three digs and two blocks. AVCA First-Team All-American Dani Huffman collected 11 kills, six digs and four blocks, and AVCA Second-Team All-American setter Natalie Schonefeld turned in a fine performance with 38 assists, six kills, nine digs and three service aces.
St. Benedict was paced by AVCA Second-Team All-American Emma Jaynes, who notched a double-double, collecting a team-high 11 kills and grabbing 13 digs. Teammate Calleigh Brown was close behind with 10 kills, and Beth Hanson dished out 32 assists and added three kills and nine digs.
Emory advances to the national semifinal round, where it will meet either Ohio Northern University (33-4) or Williams College (28-12) in a match set for 7 p.m. CST.

LA VERNE ROLLS TO 3-0 QUARTERFINAL VICTORY OVER SUNY NEW PALTZ

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (November 20, 2008) – The University of La Verne wasted no time in dispatching SUNY New Paltz in quarterfinal action of the 2008 NCAA Division III National Championships Thursday afternoon, as the Leopards swept the imposing Hawks by a 3-0 count.
La Verne (26-2) cruised to the opening set victory, taking down New Paltz (33-9) by a score of 25-15. AVCA First-Team All-American Brianne Gonzales stole the show in the frame, torching the Hawks’ defense for 7 kills, while teammate Yesenia Lopez registered 13 assists. Despite New Paltz hitting a combined .183 as a team, Melinda DiGiovanna swatted four kills, while Stephanie Bova recorded seven assists in the Eagles’ effort.
The second set saw both squads within striking distance of each other through the first ten points, but the Leopards kicked it into high-gear and scored the next seven tallies, en route to a 25-16 win. Gonzales was hot again for La Verne, pounding six kills and securing two blocks, while fellow AVCA First-Team All-American teammate Crista Jones added four kills and a block. The Hawks’ woes continued in the set, as the team hit a combined .071.
New Paltz entered the third set determined, matching La Verne point-for-point until about midway through the frame, with the Leopards clinging to a slim 15-14 lead. Brittany Coyle’s three kills and three blocks kept the New Paltz motor churning through the span, with Bova dishing out five assists and a block of her own to aid the cause. However, La Verne turned the heat up again, outscoring the Hawks by a 10-2 margin the rest of the way to gain the match-clinching 25-16 victory.
Gonzales notched a double-double for La Verne in the win, smashing a match-high 17 kills, to go along with ten digs and two blocks. Jones finished with nine kills, three blocks and three digs, while Lopez totaled 36 assists and eight digs for the Leopards.
Coyle led all New Paltz players with eight kills, in addition to tallying five blocks and two digs. Bova contributed 19 assists, seven digs and two service aces in the season-ending loss for the Hawks.
La Verne now moves on to face Juniata College (35-4) in Friday’s national semifinals. The two squads will collide at 7:00 p.m. CST.

JUNIATA OPENS NCAA QUARTERFINALS WITH SWEEP OF WISCONSIN-OSHKOSH

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (November 20, 2008) – The 2008 Division III National Championships kicked-off on host site Illinois Wesleyan University’s campus this afternoon, with national power Juniata College knocking off a talented University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh squad in straight sets in the first match of the tournament’s quarterfinal round.
In the opening set, Juniata (35-4) secured a narrow 25-23 win, thanks largely to senior Erin Albert’s highly efficient attacking. The middle blocker swatted kills in four of her five attempts (.800), while fellow Eagles’ teammate and 2008 AVCA Division III Player of the Year, Amber Thomas, also added four kills in the first stanza. The set began tight, until Juniata used a 6-1 run to build a five-point (10-5) cushion. Wisconsin-Oshkosh (40-3) battled back, tying the set at 13-all, and the teams continued to compete neck-in-neck the rest of the way, with the Eagles eventually securing the slim victory.
The second set belonged to Juniata, as the Eagles powered their way to a 25-15 win. After the two squads were deadlocked at 5-5 early on, the Juniata defense stole the show, out-blocking the Titans 5-0 during the frame. Thomas and Albert continued to key the Juniata effort, with Thomas totaling six kills and three blocks and Albert adding three kills and two blocks of her own. Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s AVCA Third-Team All-America selection Jacque Ray provided the Titans’ offense a spark, drilling five kills in the set.
Another nail-biter surfaced in the third set, with the Eagles again narrowly slipping by the Titans, this time by a 25-22 count. Following suit, Thomas and Albert evenly split eight kills during the frame for Juniata, while Ray added three kills to lead the UW-Oshkosh effort.
For the match, Juniata, led by the Thomas and Albert tandem, hit .323 as a team, while holding the Titans’ attack corps to a .181 hitting percentage. Thomas turned in an all-around performance, totaling 12 kills, four digs and four blocks, and Albert chipped in 11 kills and five blocks. A pair of AVCA All-American setters, Beth Kozak (Honorable Mention) and Steph Strauss, (Second-Team) combined to direct the Eagles’ offense with 29 assists, and AVCA Second-Team All-American libero Megan Sollenberger tallied 15 digs.
For Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Ray ended the day with 12 kills, hitting at a .375 clip, and totaled two blocks.Kelsey Maurer chipped in seven kills and two blocks for the Titans, while setter Katelyn Vara dished out 28 assists and added three kills. AVCA First-Team All-American libero Christina Cahoon ended the season with another outstanding defensive effort, scooping up 19 digs.
Juniata will now advance to the national semifinals on Friday, Nov. 21, where it will face-off against the winner of the University of La Verne (25-2) and SUNY New Paltz (32-9). First serve is set for 4:30 p.m. CST.