MADISON, WISC. - Despite playing with home court advantage Saturday at Redsten Gymnasium, the Madison College women's volleyball team was unable to overcome Harper College, falling 3-1 in the 2016 Region IV Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament Championship Match. It was the third time the teams met in a #1 vs. #2 matchup, and each time the Hawks came out on top of the WolfPack, this time earning a trip to the NJCAA Division III National Tournament in Rochester, Minnesota on November 11-12. The loss marks the first time in four years the 'Pack will not be the region's representative after three straight trips that included back-to-back national championships. Madison College finishes the season with a record of 27-5.

REGION IV CHAMPIONSHIP: #1 Harper College 3, #2 Madison College 1

Looking to keep momentum from their thrilling five-set semifinal win, Madison College busted out in a big way as they built a 23-17 advantage late in the opening set. The WolfPack, however, were unable to put the finishing touch on the set one win and the Hawks put together a 9-1 run to close it out 26-14. The second set began to feel like déjà vu as Harper College (40-1) chipped away at yet another big lead late, but this time the second-seeded WolfPack held off the top-seeded visitors, 25-21. That would be the last set won by Madison College. Harper went on to take the final two sets 25-14 and 25-15 to win the match and the Region IV title.

Madison College opened with 19 kills in the first set as they put together a .452 attack percentage. They finished the match with 56 kills on 48 assists with a .300 percentage. The WolfPack also tallied four aces (along with nine errors), eight blocks, and 82 digs.

Three players reached double-digit kills, led by sophomore Andrea Bauer with a team-high 18 kills on 52 swings. The Mukwonago, Wisconsin, native also tied for team-high honors with 17 digs for her second double-double of the tournament and 14th of the season, earning the outside hitter a spot on the Region IV All-Tournament Team.

Sophomore TeAnn Harms registered 16 kills, while second year Natasha Swiggum had 11 kills. The two middle blockers also combined for eight blocks, while Swiggum lead the team with a .455 attack percentage.

Taylor Genthe finished with 42 assists - her fifth match this season with 40 or more assists - to give the sophomore from Spring Green, Wisconsin, a place on the Region IV All-Tournament Team.

Matching Bauer atop the digs category was first year opposite Samantha Jacobsen, setting a new career high. Sophomore libero Kaitlin Mooney and sophomore outside hitter Keifer Zimmerman each collected 16 digs.

Madison College still owns a 16-12 advantage over the Hawks in the all-time series, however Harper College has won five of the past six meetings.

REGION IV SEMIFINAL: #2 Madison College 3, #3 Rock Valley College 2

A back-and-forth played out with the WolfPack trading sets against Rock Valley College (16-13) en route to a dramatic five-set victory, their first of the season and just the second fifth set played this season by Madison College. RVC dominated the opening set with a 25-17 win, but the 'Pack stormed right back, taking the second, 25-22. Sets three and four played out earily similar as the Golden Eagles won the third, 25-18, and Madison College the fourth, 25-18.

In the fifth set, Madison College won the race to eight, then after switching sides to the half of the court that had produced all four previous set winners, finished the match on a 6-3 run to win it 15-9 in the fifth.

The overall team numbers were quite similar as the two rivals finished within one kill (RVC 56; MC 55) and three digs (RVC 90; MC 93) of each other. The biggest played out above the net as the WolfPack produced 14 blocks to just five for the Golden Eagles.

Sophomore middle blocker TeAnn Harms dominated stretches of the match, finishing with a team-best 19 kills and a .356 attack percentage. Fellow sophomore Andrea Bauer kept pace with Harms, smashing 18 kills and hitting .310 for the match. Bauer also had 11 digs for her 13th double-double of the season.

Setter Taylor Genthe helped drive the offense with 33 assists, leading Madison College to a team .231 attack percentage.

Defensively, libero Kaitlin Mooney had a team-leading 22 digs to pace a group of five in double figures. Rock Valley College transfer Keifer Zimmerman had 20 against her former team, while Genthe contributed a dozen and freshman Samantha Jacobsen had ten. At the net, Jacobsen finished with six rejections, Natasha Swiggum had five blocks, and Harms four.

Serving proved to be a challenge for Madison College with two aces compared to nine errors, though it wasn't enough to prevent the 'Pack from extending their current win streak over RVC to thirteen matches.

Harper College defeated #4 College of DuPage, 3-0, in the first semifinal by set scores of 25-21, 25-19, and 25-22. For more information on the Region IV Tournament, click here.



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