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Ripon, Wis. - The MWC Volleyball post season welcomes two new faces to the 2010 MWC Women’s Volleyball Tournament which takes places November 5-6 at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Ill. St. Norbert and Beloit return after both participating in the 2009 MWC Championship and welcomes Monmouth and Lake Forest to the 2010 version. Monmouth won its first MWC Conference Championship since 1982 and will be the top seed at the tournament. The second seed Beloit Buccaneers will take on the third seed Lake Forest Foresters at 4:30 p.m. and the host Fighting Scots will take on the fourth seed St. Norbert Green Knights at 7:00 p.m. The winners of the semifinal matches will meet on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. where the winner will earn a berth to the NCAA Tournament that will begin November 12.
Monmouth (20-12, 7-2 MWC) returns to the MWC Tournament after a one year hiatus and aims for their first Tournament Championship. Head Coach Kari Shimmin brings a Fighting Scots team that is tops in the MWC with 1,410 kills, headlined by five players with 200 or more kills on the season. Sophomore Chelsey Widdop ranks sixth in the conference in kills per set (2.85) and is only one of five players to top 300 kills. Sophomore Claire Hermie is hitting a team best .279 while also contributing 244 kills. Freshman Mollie Murdock has made an immediate impact in her first season leading the conference in assists per set (9.02) with fellow freshman Emily Kauzlarich leading the team in digs per set (4.54).
Beloit (17-11, 7-2 MWC) enters the tournament looking for their first championship since the 2006 season when the Bucs won the conference and tournament championships. Head Coach Dawn Redd brings one of the best defensive teams in the conference to Monmouth that ranks tops in the MWC in both opponent hitting percentage (.090) and digs (20.72 per set). Senior Laura Toth finished the regular season atop the conference in hitting percentage (.300) and eighth in kills per set (2.71). Toth and junior Emma Kozera combine as the best one-two blocking punch ranking fourth and fifth, respectively, in blocks per set. Senior Caitlin O’Leary runs the Beloit offense and is third in the conference with 8.95 assists per set while senior Mary Parker leads the defense with 5.85 digs per set.
Jen Saylor looks to capture the Foresters’ first MWC Tournament Championship since 2003 and punch a ticket into the NCAA Tournament. Lake Forest (14-16, 6-3 MWC) is led by a pair of 300+ kill players in Cori Cooper (317) and Molly McCloskey (300). Cooper enters the tournament fifth in the conference with 2.91 kills per set and McCloskey averages 2.75 kills per set, good for seventh in the MWC. Setter Deena Blanchard is second in the conference with 748 assists, Megan Trubich also ranks second with 51 aces, and Tia Rupnik is fourth with 548 digs.
Head Coach Bethani Thibodeau leads a Green Knights (21-9, 6-3 MWC) team that is looking for their third straight MWC Tournament Championship. St. Norbert is led offensively by sophomore Danielle Remy who hit a team-high .284 (3rd in MWC) and supports a 2.36 kills per set average. Along with Remy, seniors Lauren Meehan (241 kills, .237 hitting percent) and Sarah Sulentic (2.63 kills per set, .274 hitting percent) comprise a group that is second in the MWC in team hitting percentage (.186). Freshman setter Abby West ranks sixth in the conference in assists (8.14 per set) while sophomore Catherine Guido is tops in the conference with 6.00 digs per set.
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