DECATUR, Ill. – The Elmhurst volleyball team fell to Millikin in the CCIW Tournament final.
 
After the Bluejays (24-12) won the regular season matchup in Elmhurst, the Big Blue (26-11) evened the series with a 25-21, 25-22, 28-26 victory.
 
The teams traded runs in the first set. Tied at 10-10, Millikin jumped ahead 16-10 with a 6-0 run, but the Bluejays answered back with seven straight points on Ani Agbabian's serve to lead 17-16. The Big Blue took six of the next eight points and finished the set with an Erin Syverson kill.
 
Elmhurst led for much of the early portions of the second set before Millikin tied it up at 13-13. With the Bluejays leading 16-15, the Big Blue ripped off a 6-1 run, but kills by Alli Rogers, Mel Lundin, and Hannah Davis pulled Elmhurst even at 22-22. A pair of Elmhurst attack errors and a kill by Syverson gave Millikin a two-set lead.
 
Neither team led by more than two in the third set. The Bluejays saved a match point at 24-23 and then had a pair of set points at 25-24 and 26-25, but Millikin took the final three points of the match to finish off the sweep.
 
Elmhurst hit .126 for the match (37 kills and 22 errors on 119 attempts). Lundin led the Bluejays with 11 kills, while Mary Lawrence added eight and Melissa Nava and Rogers both chipped in with six. Hannah Nimrick led the team with 29 assists and 12 digs, while Amy Schryver also posted 11 digs.
 
Syverson led the way for Millikin with 18 kills and Emily Seegmiller added 12. Emily Mihalkanin totaled 33 assists and Cassidy Kingery led the way with 16 digs.
 
The Bluejays, who have reached the NCAA Tournament in five-straight years, await Monday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show. The tournament field will be decided at 10:00 a.m. on NCAA.com.