ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Millikin Women's Volleyball wrapped up their regular season Saturday on the road at Washington University in St. Louis (Wash U) as they faced DePauw University and Wash U, who are currently ranked fourth in the NCAA Division III Central Region Rankings and 25 in the AVCA Division III Top 25 poll. The Big Blue would defeat DePauw in an exciting five set match, and would win against Wash U. Deb Kiick and the women's volleyball team end the year 20-12 finishing third in CCIW play with a 6-2 conference record.
Millikin's first match of the morning saw the Big Blue take on the Tigers of DePauw University. DePauw entered the match 14-11, going 5-2 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. The Big Blue would defeat DePauw 3-2, coming back from a 2-1 deficit after the third set, winning the last two to solidify the win.
In the first set, Millikin would defeat DeaPauw 25-19, going on six multi-point scoring runs, while holding the Tigers to five. DePauw would win the next two sets, holding the Big Blue to only 16 points in the second set and would win again in the third set with a final score of 25-22. The fourth set saw Millikin come back from a 2-1 deficit, trailing 19-15 late in the set. The Big Blue would come back and beat the Tiger 25-22 forcing the match in to a fifth set. Millikin would dominate the fifth set, going on a seven point scoring run to go ahead 14-7 on the Tigers, ending the match with a block by
Marissa McElroy and
Sarah Porter.
Lauren Brummel lead the Big Blue to the victory on offense, recording 17 kills in the match, trailed by
Marissa McElroy and
Jessi Kreder who had 12 a piece.
Rose Syversen posted a season-high three service aces on the Tigers, delivering 47 assists in the match, as well. Freshman
Jessi Kreder locked down the defense at the net with five blocks, while
Julianna Vassallo had 22 digs in the match.
In the second match of the day, the Big Blue would face the Wash U Bears, who entered the match ranked fourth in the NCAA Central Region Rankings and 25 in the AVCA Division III Top 25 poll. Millikin would shut out the Bears in three sets, finishing the regular season 20-12.
In the first set of the match, Millikin recorded only four attacking errors with 15 kills (.333 attacking %). The Big Blue would go on six multi-point scoring runs, recording three or more points three times on the Bears. Millikin would pull out two points back to back in the last two plays of the set to win 25-23. The second set would end again with a 25-23 score in favor of the Big Blue. Wash U had a 23-19 lead on Millikin late in the set, but the Big Blue would go on a four point scoring run to tie the set at 23, forcing a Wash U timeout. Kills by
Rose Syversen and
Lauren Brummel would end the set to give Millikin their second win in the match. The third set was another close game, with Millikin ending the match with a 25-22 win over Wash U. With the set tied at 21, Millikin would score three in a row to gain a 24-21 lead on the Bears, forcing a Wash U timeout.
Lauren Brummel would end the set on a kill assisted by
Rose Syversen win the match 3-0.
The Big Blue will return home on Tuesday, November 5 at 7:00 PM as they host Carrol/Wheaton at the Griswold Center in the first round of the CCIW Tournament. Millikin enters the tournament the number three seed with a 6-2 conference record.
