KENOSHA, Wis. – The Elmhurst volleyball team's rally came up just short as the Bluejays fell in five sets to Carthage  in the CCIW Tournament semifinals.

After dropping the first two sets, the Bluejays stormed back to force a fifth set before falling to Carthage 17-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-22, 9-15.

Elmhurst (30-8) jumped out to an early 10-6 lead in the opening set, but Carthage stormed back, using a 5-1 run to pull even at 11-11. Carthage then ripped off an 11-3 run to blow the set open and take a commanding 22-14 lead before putting the first set away at 25-17. The Bluejays could not overcome 14 mistakes in the set, committing nine attacking errors, four service errors and one receive error.
 

Carthage (33-3) raced out to a 10-5 lead to open the second set and never looked back, leading by as many as 12 points before pulling away for the 25-16 win. The Bluejays' service game continued to struggle as Elmhurst committed five service errors in the set.

Carthage started fast in the fourth set, building an 11-6 cushion and holding on to a 17-14 lead late in the set. Elmhurst responded with a 5-2 run to even the score at 19-19. After trading points to keep the score even at 20-20, Elmhurst built a two-point lead at 22-20 after a kill from Jakie Pavilonis and a Carthage error. The Lady Reds used a 3-1 run to pull even at 23-23, but a Sam Szarmach kill gave Elmhurst a critical point at 24-23. A ball handling error on Carthage handed the third set to the Bluejays 25-23.
 
With the score tied at 9-9 in the fourth set, the Bluejays used a 5-0 run to take control of the set.  The Bluejays led by as many as seven points before a late Carthage run pulled the Lady Reds to within three points at 23-20. Carthage closed to within two points at 24-22, but a kill from Szarmach sent the match to a decisive fifth set.
 
Carthage opened the fifth set by scoring six of the first 10 points to build a 6-4 cushion. The Lady Reds extended their lead to four points at 11-7. Elmhurst closed to within two points at 11-9 before a blocking error gave Carthage a point at 12-9. Carthage won the last three points to close out the set and the match at 15-9.
 
Elmhurst hit .217 for the match with 64 kills and 28 errors in 166 attempts. The Bluejays struggled with their serve game, committing 13 service errors and nine receive errors. Carthage (ranked 14th) finished the contest hitting .269 with 57 kills and 18 errors in 145 attempts.
 
Szarmach powered the Elmhurst offense with 20 kills and 12 digs in the loss. Alli Rogers finished with 14 kills while Jackie Pavilonis added 13 kills for Elmhurst. Shannon Burns finished with six kills and three blocks in the loss. Hannah Nimrick totaled 49 assists to go with eight kills and nine digs. Amy Schryver led the squad in digs with 19 while Peggy Clemens added 12.
 
Mallory Parsons led Carthage with 18 kills while Rachel Fields added 16 kills and 12 digs in the win. Emily Heuermann finished with 10 kills while Karen Chin tallied 46 assists and 10 digs.
 
Elmhurst, ranked 17th in the latest AVCA Division III poll, will have to wait until Monday, November 10, to see if they qualify for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection.