UW-L Advances in NCAA III Tournament with Victory at Sixth-Ranked St. Thomas

For Immediate Release: Thursday, November 13, 2008

Saint Paul, Minn. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team earned a 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-13) victory at sixth-ranked the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) Thursday night in a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Regional Quarterfinal. The match was played in Schoenecker Arena.

The Eagles improve to 28-11 on the season and will face 18th-ranked Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) Friday, November 14 in the regional semifinals. Match time is 7 p.m. Concordia-Moorhead, 21-5, advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 15-11) win over Loras College (Iowa). St. Thomas finishes its season at 28-3 with two losses coming to UW-L.

Amber Schoonover led the Eagles with 17 kills Thursday night while Brianne Stankus and Nina Walch each finished with 16. Jenna Starck added 10 kills. Liz Schlobohm recorded 55 assists as UW-L hit .190 as a team. Melannie Tate led five players in double figure digs for the Eagles with 33. Stankus finished with 20, Schoonover 19, Elizabeth Carlisle 16 and Schlobohm 10.

St. Thomas was led by Katie McCaffrey with 31 kills while DeJurnett Prioleau finished with 11. Emily Foster had 57 assists as the Tommies hit .196. Katie Kremer led the team with 30 digs while Kyley Crotty registered 22.

In set one Thursday, the teams were tied 7-7 before UW-L scored six of the next seven points to lead 13-8. The Tommies later tied it 22-22, but the Eagles scored the final three points, including the last two on kills from Stankus and Schoonover.

St. Thomas raced out to 7-3 and 14-6 leads in set two before winning 25-17.

Set three was tied 17-17 when UW-L scored the next three points to lead 20-17, but St. Thomas cut the lead to 24-23 on a McCaffrey kill. The Tommies then had an attack error to give the Eagles the final point of the set.

The teams were tied six times in the fourth set, including 15-15, before St. Thomas scored the next three points to lead 18-15. UW-L later cut the margin to 19-18 and 24-23, but the Tommies took the set, 25-23.

The fifth and deciding set had the teams tied 8-8 before Starck and Schoonover had back-to-back kills for a 10-8 UW-L lead. The Eagles led 12-9 and 13-11 after a pair of Walch kills before the Tommies made it 14-13. Walch then finished the match with a kill for UW-L as the team hit .294 in set five with 12 kills and two errors in 34 attempts.

In the other regional semifinal Friday, the College of St. Benedict (Minn.) will play UW-Eau Claire at 4:30 p.m. St. Benedict earned a 3-1 (24-26, 25-10, 25-16, 25-15) victory over Simpson College (Iowa) Thursday while UW-Eau Claire defeated Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-21).

UW-L is making its 12th appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Eagles advanced to the national quarterfinals in 2003 and 2004.

UW-L leads the all-time series, 6-1, with Concordia-Moorhead. The Eagles defeated the Cobbers, 3-1, in the 2003 NCAA III Tournament.