WHITEWATER, Wis. – The Elmhurst volleyball team's 2016 season came to a close in the second round of the NCAA Tournament following in a heartbreaking five-set loss marathon to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
The match was a classic Elmhurst/Whitewater battle as the two teams played five sets for the third straight time in the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays rallied from an early deficit in the fifth set and had a match point, but Whitewater overcame the points and the Warhawks advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 27-29, 25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 17-15 victory.
Elmhurst, ranked 23rd in the latest AVCA Division III poll, broke a 5-5 tie in the opening set with a 6-2 run, grabbing an 11-7 lead following a kill from
Alli Rogers, but Whitewater surged back with a 7-3 run to pull even at 14-14 and force the Bluejays to burn a timeout. The score was even at 15-all before back-to-back points from the Warhawks gave the hosts a two-point cushion. The Bluejays answered back with a 3-0 run to grab an 18-17 lead before a kill from Amanda Speara brought the Warhawks back even at 18-18. A kill from Ashton Doll and an ace from Staci Hasler followed to put Whitewater in front 20-18 and force Elmhurst to burn its second timeout. The Warhawks added two more points to take a 22-18 lead before Elmhurst ripped off three straight points to pull to within a point, resulting in a timeout by Whitewater. Whitewater pushed its lead back to two at 23-21, but Elmhurst scored back-to-back points to pull even at 23-23 with Whitewater burning its final timeout of the set. A double contact call against Whitewater gave Elmhurst a set point but a block from Ashton Doll evened the set at 24-24. The Warhawks fought off a total of four set points from the Bluejays to keep the score even at 27-27, but back-to-back errors on the Warhawks gave Elmhurst the opening set at 29-27.
The Bluejays jumped out to a quick start in the second, building a 9-6 lead and forcing the Warhawks to burn an early timeout. Whitewater pulled even at 10-10, but the Bluejays answered back with a 3-0 run, but the Warhawks chipped away at the lead until the score was knotted at 16-16. A block from Doll gave Whitewater a 17-16 lead resulting in a timeout from Elmhurst. The Warhawks led by two at 19-17, but the Bluejays used a 3-0 run to take a 20-19 lead. The score was evened up at 22-all but an Elmhurst error put the Warhawks up 23-22 resulting in Elmhurst taking its final timeout. A kill from Alexandra Bialo and an error on the Bluejays gave the Warhawks the second set at 25-22. After committing 10 errors in the opening set, the Warhawks cut that number in half, hitting .239 with 16 kills and just five errors while registering three blocks to take the set.
Elmhurst came out firing in the third set, racing out to an early 8-2 advantage, leading to an early timeout called by Whitewater. The Bluejays pushed the lead to seven points at 9-2 before Whitewater sliced it down to four points on multiple occasions, but Elmhurst answered back each time, pushing the lead back to five or more points. A kill from
Hannah Davis reestablished a seven-point cushion for the Bluejays at 17-10 resulting in Whitewater calling its final timeout. Elmhurst led by eight at 18-10, but a 3-0 run from the Warhawks brought the Bluejays lead down to five leading to an Elmhurst timeout. Whitewater brought the lead back to down four points on four occasions before closing to within three at 23-20 leading to Elmhurst's second timeout. The Bluejays won a long rally to take a set point following a
Mel Lundin kill. The Warhawks fought off back-to-back set points to close to within two at 24-22, but a kill from Davis ended the set for the Bluejays 25-22. Lundin's play helped spark the Bluejays in the third as the junior hit .600 for the set with six kills. Elmhurst hit .302 as a squad with 17 kills and just four errors in the set.
Whitewater started quickly in the fourth, building a quick 6-1 cushion leading to an Elmhurst timeout. The Bluejays brought the deficit down to three points on two occasions but the Warhawks responded with a 5-0 to open up a 12-5 lead. Elmhurst trailed 14-7 before a 3-0 run keyed by a pair of blocks cut the deficit down to four points and lead to a Whitewater timeout. The Bluejays continued to close following the timeout as an ace from Lawrence brought Elmhurst to within three points, but the Warhawks responded with three straight to push their lead back to six points at 17-11. Elmhurst came no closer the rest of the way as the Warhawks traded points with the Bluejays the rest of the way to put the set away at 25-18 and force a decisive fifth set. The Warhawks pounded down 18 kills in the set while Elmhurst hit just .058 with 10 kills and seven errors in the set.
The Warhawks carried their momentum from the fourth set into the fifth as Whitewater won the first four points of the fifth set forcing the Bluejays to burn a timeout. Elmhurst appeared to have brought the lead down to two points but a rotation error on the Bluejays gave Whitewater a 7-3 lead. The Bluejays rattled off back-to-back points to close to within two and force Whitewater to call a timeout. A kill from Rogers made it a one-point game at 7-6 and a net violation on Whitewater evened the score at 7-7. A kill from Hasler gave Whitewater an 8-7 lead at the side change. An Elmhurst error and a kill from Whitewater put the Warhakws up 10-7 resulting in Elmhurst calling its final timeout. A kill from
Hannah Davis, an error on Whitewater and a kill from Mary Reynolds brought Elmhurst back to even at 10-10 and Whitewater called its final timeout. An ace from Rogers out of the timeout gave Elmhurst its first lead of the set at 11-10, but an attack error on the Bluejays evened the score at 11-11. A kill from Racky put Whitewater back in front at 12-11 and a block gave the Warhawks at 13-11 cushion. Davis smashed a kill down the line to bring the lead back down to one and a double contact call on Whitewater evened the set at 13-13. A block from Nava and Lawrence gave Elmhurst a match-point at 14-13, but Racky erased it with a kill for Whitewater. An ace for the Warhawks gave Whitewater a match point but Lawrence and Nimrick stuffed an attack to pull the Bluejays level at 15-all. Racky gave Whitewater its second match point with a kill and the Warhawks ended the match with a kill from Courtney Wagner.
"This team showed some resilience in the fifth set," said Head Coach
Julie Hall. "They dug an early hole but fought back from that to put themselves in a position to win. They refused to give up and fought till the very end."
Elmhurst finished the contest hitting .157 with 62 kills and 28 errors in 217 attacks. Lundin led the way for Elmhurst in the loss with 18 kills while
Melissa Nava added 12 kills and four blocks. Rogers added 10 kills and 14 digs. Davis totaled nine kills and two blocks while Lawrence finished with nine kills and five blocks. Nimrick added four kills, 15 digs, five blocks and a team-leading 53 assists.
Amy Schryver led the squad in digs with 37 assists.
Whitewater finished the match hitting .168 with 71 kills and 32 errors in 232 attacks. Wagner led the charge for the Warhawks with 21 kills while Racky finished with 19. Lauren Pfeifer added 12 kills and 21 digs while Brittany Robinson tallied a match-high 38 digs. Hasler added 58 assists and 17 digs for the Warhawks. Whitewater improved to 24-6 overall with the victory.
Nationally ranked throughout the season, the Bluejays wrapped up the year with a 23-13 overall record while making a sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
"I couldn't be more proud of the way this team closed out the season in the NCAA Tournament," said head coach
Julie Hall. "We struggled at the end of the regular season and we wanted to show that we could still compete with the best teams in the NCAA Tournament and we did just that."
Hall will have the difficult challenge of replacing a trio of all-conference players in Nimrick, Lawrence and Nava and praised the three seniors following the match.
"This is one of the most talented trio of seniors I've ever had," said Hall. "I would hate to coach against them and that's one of the biggest compliments I can give them. I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to coach them. It's been a blessing and they went out playing the absolute best volleyball they've ever played"
