MADISON, WISC. - Madison College was hopeful to take advantage of a high seed and home court advantage during this weekend's
Region 4 Division II Women's Volleyball Tournament held inside
H. Douglas Redsten Gymnasium; however, the magic ran out for the #2-seeded WolfPack as they dropped 3-1 semifinal match to #7-seeded Carl Sandburg College on Saturday. The home team ran away with the opening set before the Chargers answered with wins in the next three to pull off the upset 13-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-21. The setback closes Madison College's season with a 19-14 record
The WolfPack held a narrow lead early in the first set before an 8-6 advantage turned into an 11-point differential with a 13-4 surge. During the run, sophomore
Faith Radecke served two aces and freshman Bella Vitiaioli had another, while front row players
Courtney Gorum each had a kill and a block. Vitaioli's kill to make it 21-10 would be followed up by a block from
Addyson McHugh, another successful Vitaioli attack, and a
Kate Howe attack off the top of the Chargers block found the floor to give Madison College a dominating first set win at 25-13.
In the second set, Sandburg used a 4-0 run to take control of a 10-10 game, and eventually pushed the lead to as high as six at 22-16 before the Pack clawed to within three. Back-to-back Chargers kills ended the short three-point surge and eventually set up set point. Following a pair of Gorum kills to make it 24-21, an attack error by Howe evened the match.
Early in the third set, the Chargers claimed six of seven points to grab an 11-6 advantage, which they maintained en route to a six-point victory to go ahead two-sets-to-one. Madison College, playing with their season on the line, trailed most of the fourth set two more Gorum kills and another Radecke ace turned a two-point deficit into a 17-16 lead and forced CSC into a timeout. Gorum terminated another attack to make it 18-16. The Chargers kept answering and with the home team on top 21-20 following
Addyson McHugh's final kill, Sandburg closed out the match with a 5-0 run to advance to the championship.
For the match, Carl Sandburg College posted a 55-45 lead in kills, while Madison College owned an 11-5 edge in aces and an 11-2 advantage in blocks.
Gorum closed out her career with 15 kills and a .275 attack percentage, to go along with a team-high 23 digs for her 15th double-double of the season and 23rd of her career. She also had two blocks and one ace. The Chesapeake, Virginia, native and UW-Madison transfer closed out her two years with the WolfPack with a program-record 817 kills.
McHugh was right behind with 14 kills and a .200 efficiency, while also earning eight digs and three blocks. The outside and right side hitter from Spring Grove, Minnesota, finishes with 616 career kills, tying her for third on the all-time list at Madison College.
Setter
Brooke Anderson, a former River Valley HS athlete and current WolfPack softball player, had 28 assists, while freshman
Tricia Klum finished with 16 helpers.
Radecke, a Stoughton, Wisconsin, native, and Vitaioli, a Milton, Wisconsin, product, each had three aces, followed by two each from Anderson and sophomore libero
MacKenzie Thom. Vitaioli also had six kills, 13 digs, and a block. Thom tallied ten digs.
Freshman
Emma Carpenter matched McHugh with three blocks.
Carl Sandburg College (35-10) now owns a 3-1 lead in the all-time series after splitting a pair of matches in 2024. The entire weekend inside Redsten Gym featured loads of intense matches with five of the six going a full five sets, and finished with a pair of unlikely champions. The Chargers went back-and-forth with #3-seeded Moraine Valley Community College (24-6) two win the NJCAA Midwest District B Championship by a 3-2 final. That result came hours after #5-seeded Milwaukee Area Technical College (34-6) finished off an upset of top-seeded Sauk Valley Community College (31-8) in five sets for the NJCAA Midwest District A Championship. Sandburg and Milwaukee Tech each earn an automatic berth in the
2024 NJCAA Division II Women's Volleyball National Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from November 20-23.
Follow WolfPack volleyball: Facebook |
Twitter |
Instagram
