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Date: November 17, 2005
Contact: Bill Sodoma
Colby volleyball ends season at 37-4 with loss in NCAA quarterfinal
SALEM, Va. --- The defending national champs were too much for the Colby College volleyball team Thursday night.
Juniata College, the 2004 NCAA Division III champions and the current second-ranked team in the country, took a 3-0 victory (30-13, 31-29, 30-16) over the Mules in an NCAA Division III quarterfinal at the Salem Civic Center.
Colby finishes its season at 37-4, while Juniata (34-1) moves on to the Final Four and a semifinal meeting with Wittenberg on Friday.
The Mules struggled in the opening game, but stayed with Juniata the entire second game. The Eagles held a 21-17 lead, but Colby battled back and went ahead 23-22. After a Juniata point, the Mules ran off three straight points to take a 26-23 lead. Colby led 29-27 and had two match points, but the Eagles scored the final four points of the match to pull out the win.
Colby stayed alive early in the third game at 6-6. However, Juniata scored the next seven points to take command for good.
Rachael Schatz led Juniata with 12 kills and Stephanie Kines had 11 kills. Jess Ritchey finished with 37 assists, 10 defensive digs and four service aces.
Cait Cleaver ended up with eight kills and 13 digs for Colby. Kaitlin Adams had seven kills, Mariah Daly finished with six kills, Kendall Kirby had 20 digs, Jenny Lawrence had 21 assists and 11 digs, and Megan Devlin had 10 digs.
NCAA Division III Tournament
Quarterfinals, Thursday
At Salem Civic Center, Salem, Va.
Wittenberg 3, New York University 2 (34-32, 27-30, 30-20, 28-30, 16-14)
La Verne 3, Washington (Mo.) University 0 (30-18, 30-25, 30-26)
Wisconsin-Whitewater 3, Emory 1 (30-27, 22-30, 30-28, 30-25)
Juniata 3, Colby College 0 (30-13, 31-29, 30-16)
Semifinals, Friday
Wisconsin-Whitewater 3, La Verne 0 (30-27,30-17, 30-24)
Juniata 3, Wittenberg, 2 (26-30, 30-24, 27-30, 30-21, 16-14)
National Final, Saturday
Wisconsin-Whitewater vs. Juniata, 7 p.m.
