Box Score
INDIANAPOLIS – Youth won out over experience in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament as Rockhurst stunned No. 19 UIndy, 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-14, 26-24), on Saturday night at the Indy South Sports Academy.
The Hawks (27-6) with four freshmen and two sophomores in the starting line-up didn't show any fear against the Greyhounds (27-7) as they hit .199 with 57 kills and 15 blocks, which helped limit UIndy to .120 attacking and 50 kills.
The Greyhounds were led by GLVC Player of the Year
Kristina Kerrigan with a match-high 18 kills, 10 digs and four blocks, while All-GLVC East middle blocker
Brittany Anglemyer had eight kills and seven blocks and
Kourtney Crawford had eight kills and three blocks.
Meghan Binkerd dished 38 assists with seven digs, four kills, three blocks and two aces, while
Amy Oldenburg and Kim Trojan had 14 and 12 digs, respectively.
Rockhurst was led by Katie Loescher with 15 kills and six blocks (three solo), while Maggie Hummel had 14 kills and 13 digs and GLVC co-Freshman of the Year Kelsey Stratman had 10 kills and six blocks. Whitney Kostal finished with 47 assists, 10 digs and four kills, while Victoria Mahl led all players with 21 digs.
The Greyhounds now await their tournament fate when the 64-team field is released for the 2012 NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship tomorrow at 10 p.m. on the selection show on NCAA.com. The Greyhounds have been the top seed in all three weekly regional polls and hope to hold that spot and the right to host the Midwest Regional.
The Hawks started fast in the opening set by scoring the first six points before UIndy got on the board with a kill by
Hailey Brown. That actually started a run of four points in a row to cut the margin to two, 6-4, but back-to-back blocks of Brown put the lead back at four, 8-4. Multiple times the Greyhounds were able to get back within two, including at 21-19, after a Crawford kill. Stratman answered with a kill for Rockhurst and they ended the set on a 4-0 run, 25-19.
UIndy started fast with four points in a row and 6-of-8 to open the second set, but the Hawks streaked back to take a three-point advantage, 17-14, after three consecutive UIndy hitting errors. Kills by Anglemyer and
Arielle Knafel helped the Hounds back with a 5-1 run to regain the lead, 19-18, on Binkerd's kill. UIndy missed the ensuing serve, but then scored another five in a row to reach set point, 24-19. The Hawks saved the first two until Kerrigan found the floor to even the match, 25-21.
Early in the third was close with three ties, but Rockhurst was always in front and started to pull away and took a five-point lead, 14-9, with a four-point run. UIndy scored with a Knafel kill, but it hardly slowed Rockhurst as it scored another five in a row to go up nine, 19-10, and ran away with the set, 25-14. The Hawks hit .378 with 19 kills to take the decisive third set.
A kill by Brown put UIndy up two, 10-8, and forced a Rockhurst timeout early in the fourth. UIndy promptly missed the serve after the timeout and then Anglemyer's attack went long to even the score. Anglemyer came back to team with Binkerd on a block as the Hounds built the lead back to three, 17-14, after back-to-back Binkerd aces. The Hawks called timeout and went on a 9-3 run to regain the lead, 23-20. The defending champions wouldn't go away and came back to save match point and tie it at 24-all on a block from Anglemyer and Binkerd. The Hawks wouldn't rattle as the freshman Loescher and sophomore Hummel had kills on the next two points to send UIndy home, 26-24.
