Washington U. First into National Finals
UW-Whitewater Comeback Falls Short
Box Score

November 17, 2006

SALEM, Va. --- The first semi-final match of the 2006 NCAA Division III National Volleyball Championship pitted a pair of volleyball heavyweights against each other on Friday afternoon in Salem.  With a combined 40 total NCAA tournament appearances between the two foes, Washington University-St. Louis and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater set the stage for a stellar contest.  Washington U. proved tops on this day, defeating the defending champion Warhawks 3-0 (30-21, 30-18, 30-27) and putting themselves into the national final match.

“This is reality,” explained Washington U. head coach Rich Luenemann.  “We were working towards this championship.”

The Bears (38-1) used an overpowering block to march through the first two games of the match, but the third stanza was a different story.  Washington U. jumped out to an 11-1 lead that soon grew to 20-7 before UW-Whitewater called its second timeout of the game.  The Warhawks (35-7) rebounded following the break, using improved hitting and good net play to wrong-foot WUSTL. UWW closed the gap to 23-13 to force the Bear bench pause play and regroup.

The Warhawks continued to push the issue out of the timeout, further unsettling the Bears’ big lead.  With its offense untracked and the Warhawks in rhythm, Washington U. was again forced into a stoppage with its advantage cut to 27-23.  With the scoreboard reading 29-27, Nikki Morrison put the final point down for the Bears, securing its 3-0 victory.

Morrison led the way for the Bear attack that hit .258 for the contest, hammering out a match-high 15 kills to go with three blocks.  Whitney Smith led the WUSTL front line with six total blocks (five assists) as part of a Bear defense that sent back 10 Warhawk attempts.  Setter Audra Janak handed out 24 assists while Amy Bommarito and Haleigh Spencer racked up 14 and 13 digs, respectively.

Carley Polk headed the UWW attack with 12 kills.  Setter Kate Lazotte dished out 36 assists to go with seven digs.  Kristina Conlin led the defense with 11 digs while Abby Schultz and Rebekah Nelson collected 10 apiece.

UW-Whitewater took control early in the first game, moving out to a 10-7 advantage at one point.  Washington U.’s Smith and a pair of her frontline-mates sent back a pair Warhawk attacks to help the Bears move out to a 12-10 timeout-inducing lead.  WUSTL carried a two-point edge for much of the middle part of the frame before pushing its lead to 26-20 and forcing a second Warhawk break.  The Bears didn’t let up following the timeout, hunting down victory 30-21.

Game two started much the same as the first with the teams exchanging points back and forth.  UW-Whitewater seemed to be starting a little run as it moved out to a 10-8 lead, but Washington U. called timeout to quickly dispel the momentum.  The tactic worked as the Bears leveled the match and eventually took a 17-13 lead midway through frame.  A pair of timeouts couldn’t stop the Washington U. block from stymieing the Warhawk offense, leading to a 30-18 Bear triumph.

"We were very motivated,” said Bear senior Amy Bommarito.  “Everyone played their best.”

Washington-St. Louis looks for its ninth national title on Saturday, November 18, at 7:30 p.m.  They will square off against the winner of the second semi-final between Juniata College and Wittenberg University.