GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Elmhurst volleyball team's season came to a close in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 24-26, 21-25, 25-18, 23-25 loss to #15 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
 
Elmhurst built sizeable leads in the first and fourth set, but were unable to put them away, allowing Stevens Point to take both sets en route to the four-set win.  
 
Elmhurst, ranked 15th in the latest AVCA Poll, started strong in the opening set, building a 17-10 lead, but Stevens Point fought back with a 7-1 run to pull to within a point at 18-17. The Bluejays pushed their lead back to three points at 22-19 but three straight from the Pointers evened the match at 22-all. A kill from Hannah Davis gave the Bluejays a 23-22 lead, but Stevens Point ripped off back-to-back points to earn a set point at 24-23. A kill from Hannah Nimrick evened the set at 24-24, but a kill from Emma Brunkhorst and an Elmhurst attack error gave the Pointers the set at 26-24.
 
Elmhurst scored the first two points of the second set, but Stevens Point responded with five straight points, forcing the Bluejays to burn their first timeout. Stevens Point lengthened its lead to four at 6-2, but four straight points from the Bluejays evened the score at 6-6. The Pointers regained control and built a four-point cushion at 16-12, but back-to-back kills from Mary Lawrence brought the Bluejays to within two points and forced Stevens Point to call a timeout. The Pointers led 19-17 before back-to-back errors on Elmhurst gave the Pointers a four-point cushion at 21-17. Kills from Alli Rogers and Jamie Vargo coupled with an error on Stevens Point pulled Elmhurst to within a point at 22-21, but Stevens Point closed the set with a 3-0 run aided by a pair of Elmhurst errors to take the second set 25-21.
 
The third set started back-and-forth before Stevens Points used a small run to grab a 10-7 lead and force the Bluejays to call their first timeout. Stevens Point led 14-11 before Elmhurst ripped off an 8-1 to take a 19-15 lead. Stevens Point pulled to within three points at 21-18, but the Bluejays rattled off four straight points, aided by three Stevens Point errors, to close out the set at 21-18.
 
The two squads traded the first eight points of the fourth set to keep the score even at four. Stevens Points rattled off two straight points to grab a 6-4 lead, but the Bluejays used a 4-0 run to grab an 8-6 lead and force the Pointers to burn a timeout. Elmhurst lengthened its lead to four at 13-9 and forced the Pointers to use their second timeout. The Bluejays built a six-point cushion at 16-10, but three straight points from the Pointers forced Elmhurst to use a timeout. The Bluejays pushed their lead back to six at 20-14. Elmhurst led 21-15, but five straight points from Stevens Point brought the Pointers to within a point at 21-20. The Pointers continued their run out of the timeout, winning the next three points to surge in front at 23-21. The Bluejays evened the score at 23-all after kills from Rogers and Shannon Burns, but a kill from Kelly Cefalu and an ace from Hannah Picel sealed the set and the match for the Pointers at 25-23.

Elmhurst hit .135 for the match with 55 kills and 29 errors in 192 swings. The Bluejays struggled with errors in the opening two sets, committing 19 errors while totaling 28 kills. Elmhurst committed just 10 errors for the final two sets.
 

Mel Lundin led the way for Elmhurst with 14 kills in the loss. Mary Lawrence added 11 kills and four blocks. Hannah Nimrick finished one kill shy of a triple-double, totaling nine kills, 32 assists and 18 digs for the contest. Rogers chipped in with eight kills. Amy Schryver led the team in digs with 28 while Peggy Clemens added 17 and Kerry Swain totaled 15.
 
UW-Stevens Point (27-8) hit .126 for the match with 52 kills and 28 errors in 191 swings. The Pointers struggled with errors in the third set, committing 10 while totaling just nine kills. Stevens Point surged in the fourth set though, totaling 18 kills and five errors while hitting .228.
 
Kelly Cefalu powered the Pointers attack, finishing with a match-high 20 points, including 10 kills in the decisive fourth set. Gabby Thomas added 15 kills and 23 digs while Emma Brunkhorst finished with eight kills. Brittany Laffin finished with 44 assists while Hannah Picel added 23 digs
 
"We played hard and battled back, but we just came up short," said Head Coach Julie Hall. "It's kind of been the story of this season. We just haven't been able to put away teams when we needed to. We just need to have belief that we can finish off a set or a match."
 
Elmhurst finished the season with a 24-12 overall record. The Bluejays will say goodbye to seniors Shannon Burns and Peggy Clemens, but will return the majority of its roster next season.

"I told the team the other day that any future success that this team has is because of the groundwork that Peggy and Shannon helped lay out this year," said Hall. "They really mentored this young roster and helped get them prepared for the future. I'm going to miss them next season."