NCAA Division III Volleyball Championships

Semifinals - Friday, November 21

Recaps written and provided by Leah Brock, American Volleyball Coaches Association

EMORY SLIPS PAST OHIO NORTHERN, 3-2; SOARS INTO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (November 21, 2008) – In the second match of the day that saw two teams battle until the very end, it was Emory University who made it out with a 3-2 victory over Ohio Northern University in semifinal action of the 2008 NCAA Division III Championships.
The first set didn’t lack any intensity, that’s for sure, with the action as nail-biting as it comes. The two teams were evenly matched the first few points until Emory (34-6) began to pull away slightly, using a Dani Huffman kill to give the Eagles an 11-7 advantage. ONU (34-5) fought back, point-by-point, and the national powerhouses engaged in 11 ties throughout until an Abby Schaller kill, followed by a Shaller/Samantha Markham block gave the Polar Bears a slight 20-17 edge. Emory, who entered the match as the No. 2 team in the Bison/AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll, hung in the action, eventually tying the game again at 24-all. The Eagles had three set-points fall through their grasp before Ohio Northern, currently the No. 8 team in the country, finally ended the frame with a thrilling 29-27 win.
Two kills and a block by Huffman pushed Emory to a 6-3 lead early in set two, and the Eagles continued in the driver’s seat, holding a 14-11 edge before the Polar Bears gained some momentum, scoring the next three points and eventually pulling ahead 16-15 on a Markham block. After the set was knotted again at 16, two Emory errors and a Katie Weininger kill extended the ONU lead to its largest of the frame, 19-16. ONU held on for the victory, using back-to-back kills by Liz Schnelle to cap the 25-22 win.
Holding true to the opening two sets, the third stanza was much of the same, as the action see-sawed back-and-forth throughout, before Kelsey Krzyston burned the Polar Bears for consecutive service aces, lifting Emory to a 10-8 advantage. Another Krzyston ace sandwiched between kills by Huffman and Amelia McCall pushed the margin to five (13-8), forcing ONU to signal its second timeout. With the Eagles’ lead standing at 16-10, Schnelle caught fire for the Polar Bears, blistering three consecutive kills to cut the deficit to three, but Emory regrouped and continued to put points on the board, stretching the cushion to seven, 21-14 and eventually securing a 25-15 victory.
The fourth set was all Eagles, as Emory raced out to a 12-4 lead thanks to three kills and two blocks by Huffman. The Eagles rolled through the rest of the set to capture another 25-15 set win and send the match into the fifth and deciding frame. Emory hit an efficient .350 in the stanza, clubbing 16 kills with only two attack errors, while holding Ohio Northern to a .140 hitting percentage and forcing six attack errors.
A block and a kill from Markham helped push ONU to a 3-0 start in the fifth set, and the Polar Bears extended the lead to five (7-2) nearing midway point of the frame. Back-to-back kills by Schnelle and Weininger made the score 9-3, forcing Emory to call for a timeout in attempt to halt the Ohio Northern hot streak. The plan worked, as the Eagles, with the odds against them, charged back, netting eight of the next 10 points to knot the action 11-11. After trading the next few tallies, it was Emory who completed the comeback, capturing the 15-12 match-clinching win.
It was Huffman who shone the brightest during the evening, as she totaled match-highs in kills (25) and blocks (8), while adding three digs. Alysse Meyer and McCall evenly divided 26 kills and combined for seven digs and four blocks, and Maggie Baird added 12 kills for the Eagles. Natalie Schonefeld effectively guided the Emory offense, registering 62 assists, while also totaling 15 digs and three blocks. Defensively, Krzyston and Brannan O’Neill each collected 27 digs and combined for six service aces.
Leading the way for the Polar Bears was Schnelle, who ended her season with a 21-kill, three-block, four-dig effort. Renee Berry chipped in 11 kills, 21 digs and four blocks for ONU, while Markham totaled six kills and five blocks. Weininger ended her career by dishing out 45 assists, and added five kills, eight digs and three blocks. Kasey Roesen paced the Ohio Northern defensive effort with 24 digs and four service aces.
Emory now moves forward to Saturday’s NCAA Division III National Championship match, where it will take on the University of La Verne (27-2). First serve is set for 7 p.m. CST.

LA VERNE OUTLASTS JUNIATA, 3-2, EARNING TRIP TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (November 21, 2008) – In a match that might talked about for years to come, the University of La Verne avenged a 3-1 loss to Juniata College earlier in the season and toughed out a slim 3-2 victory over the Eagles in first match of 2008 NCAA Division III national semifinal action.
Juniata (35-5), who entered the match as the No. 1 team in the Bison/AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll, surged out to a 5-0 lead in set one, partly due to two kills by middle blocker Erin Albert.  La Verne, the current No. 4 team in the poll, battled back, taking five of the next six points, and the two teams eventually fought to a 9-9 tie. The squads were tied again at 13, but the Eagles began to slowly pull away down the stretch, securing the 25-20 win.
La Verne (27-2) turned things around in the second set, putting the first tally on the board and never trailing. The Leopards, who led by as many as eight (20-12) in the frame, went on to capture a 25-18 decision. Brianna Gonzales and Rebecca Villanueva each ripped four kills and Christa Jones added three for the La Verne effort.
After exchanging the first few points of the third set, another Albert blast gave Juniata an early four-point lead (8-4). A block and a kill by Cassie Dickman on consecutive plays pushed the Eagles’ cushion to six (11-5), but La Verne continued to be a nuisance, chipping the lead back down to four on a Villanueva kill. Juniata took over from there, outscoring the Leopards 12-4 the remainder of the frame, en route to a 25-13 win, thanks to some big blocking, including three stuffs and a kill by Albert and three blocks by Michelle Morchesky.
The Eagles took a 5-2 lead early on in the fourth set, but La Verne refused to back down, using two kills and a block from Gonzales to take a 7-6 lead. The squads then entered an all-out slugfest, seeing a number of ties, before Juniata would regain the lead, 13-12, on a Leopards’ error. The Eagles would manage to push the margin to four (18-14), before La Verne mounted yet another comeback, blitzing Juniata for the next five points to regain the lead for good at 19-18. The final points of the set were the “Jones Show” for the Leopards, as the middle blocker blasted four kills and added a service ace in propelling La Verne to the 25-22 win.
With everything on the line in set five, the teams fought an epic battle the entire way, with 11 ties produced in the shortened set. It was La Verne, however, who ended on top, requiring extra points to gut out the 17-15 match-sealing victory.
Jones and Gonzales proved to be the sparks for the Leopards in the match, both turning in impressive all-around performances. Jones finished with 18 kills, while hitting .302, and added four blocks, two service aces and two digs. Gonzales chipped in 16 kills, 22 digs and two blocks, while Villanueva also added 10 kills and 14 digs. Yesenia Lopez directed the La Verne offense, registering 51 assists and contributing four kills and 11 digs.
Thomas ended her storied Juniata career with a double-double performance, drilling a match-high 19 kills to go along with 14 digs, and teammate Albert contributed 13 kills and three blocks. Beth Kozak dished out 32 assists for the Eagles, in addition to netting 10 digs and two service aces, and Steph Strauss added 14 assists and two kills.
La Verne advances to Saturday’s NCAA Division III Championship match, in hopes of capturing the school’s first national title since the 2001 season. The Leopards will face the winner of tonight’s other semifinal match, which pits Ohio Northern University (34-4) against Emory University (33-6), in a 7 p.m. showdown.