UW-L to Face Calvin College in NCAA III Tournament

For Immediate Release: Monday, November 5, 2007

Indianapolis, Ind. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team, 17th in last week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) rankings, will play Calvin College (Mich.) in the NCAA Division III Regional Quarterfinal Thursday, November 8 at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Eagles and Knights will play at 6 p.m. at the Carthage Physical Education Center. Calvin was 16th in last week's national rankings.

In the other regional quarterfinal matches November 8 in Kenosha, Washington University (Mo.) will face Hanover College (Ind.) at 1 p.m.; UW-Oshkosh will take on UW-Platteville at 3:30 p.m. and Carthage will host Carroll College (Wis.) at 8:30 p.m. Washington University is ranked fourth in the country while Carthage is sixth and UW-Oshkosh ninth.

UW-L earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament after finishing third at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament Saturday at UW-Whitewater. The Eagles will be making their 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and third in the last five years. UW-L advanced to the NCAA III Quarterfinals in 2003 and 2004.

UW-L, 24-9 on the season, is one of five WIAC institutions to make the 61-team national tournament field. UW-Whitewater, ranked seventh in the country, earned the conference's automatic bid after winning the league tournament November 3 over UW-Platteville. The Warhawks will play Concordia-Moorhead in the regional round November 8 at the University of St. Thomas (Minn.). UW-Eau Claire also made this year's tournament and will play at the University of St. Thomas in an regional quarterfinal.

Calvin, 29-4 on the season, defeated Hope College (Mich.) 3-0 (30-22, 30-19, 30-23) in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Championship Saturday. With the win, Calvin earned an automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament. The Knights will be making their 17th trip to the national tournament including their fourth straight. Calvin's MIAA Tournament title was its sixth in school history, including four in a row.

UW-L earned a 3-2 (30-24, 30-25, 30-32, 24-30, 15-9) victory over UW-Eau Claire in the WIAC Third-Place match Saturday at UW-Whitewater. Katelyn Carlson led the Eagles with 25 kills and 37 digs. She hit .306 in the match, finishing with 24 kills and six errors in 62 attempts. Brianne Stankus added 16 kills and 12 digs for UW-L while Nina Walch totaled 12 kills and Amber Schoonover 10. Walch finished with a team-high six blocks while Schoonover had 18 digs.

Samantha Dries finished with 53 assists and 22 digs for UW-L. The Eagles recorded 116 digs and hit .221 as a team with 15.0 blocks.

The regional semifinals will be played Friday, November 9 and the regional championship Saturday, November 10 at Carthage.