Contact: Brock Reisler, Assistant Executive Director, breisler@midwestconference.org
MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – For the fifth season in a row, Cornell College is the Midwest Conference volleyball tournament champion after defeating Lawrence University 3-1 on Saturday afternoon inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
Cornell wasted little time grabbing the early lead at home, racing out to a 25-18 set one victory. The Rams never trailed by more than two in the frame and hit .306 in the stanza.
Lawrence punched back in the second set, recording a 25-16 victory. The Vikings held Cornell to a .138 hitting percentage and produced four service aces to knot the match at one set apiece.
The tables turned once again in set three, as the Rams won the stanza 25-19. Cornell had a slim 14-12 advantage in kills but took advantage of five LU attack errors while recording a pair of service aces.
Set four was back and forth, and Lawrence led 15-14 to prompt a Cornell timeout. However, the hosts scored the next four points and led the rest of the way to win the set 25-23 and claim the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament once again.
Hannah Cantwell, Ashlin Nottestad and Ally Olmstead led a balanced offensive attack for Cornell, tallying 13 kills each. Nia Howard (21) and Grace Tverberg (20) each recorded at least 20 digs, while Ella Becker (21 digs), Cantwell (11 digs) and Howard (10 digs) led the effort defensively.
Hazel Cook, Annaliesse Schmall and Audrey Weier paced Lawrence with 17 kills, 12 kills and 10 kills, respectively, while Ally Corrente had 45 assists. Aria Wessel notched 20 digs for the Vikings, as Alayna Geiser (14) and Cook (10) tallied double-digit digs as well.
With the win, Cornell advances to its 11th NCAA Tournament in school history. The Rams are looking to win an NCAA Tournament match for the second time in three seasons when the event kicks off on Thursday.
Cornell awaits its NCAA Tournament opponent and destination on Monday, November 17. The selection show begins at 12 p.m. and will be streamed live on NCAA.com.