MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Milwaukee Area Technical College women's volleyball team had its hopes of securing its first-ever NJCAA DII Volleyball Championship Tournament victory in program history come to a close Thursday morning.

In the opening round of the consolation bracket, No. 18 MATC suffered a 3-0 defeat to No. 15 Mesa Community College by a combined 29 points. The Stormers fought hard, but costly mistakes – a combined 34 errors between attacks (29), serves (2), and blocks (3) – proved to be the difference as they fell 8-25, 20-25, 18-25.

"We haven't seen mistakes like that all season," Stormers head coach Shel DeLisle said of her team's 34 total errors. "I think some of our mistakes were instead of worrying about mistakes, they were playing careful. We don't [normally] play careful, we play tough… a lot of those errors were something we don't normally do."

The three-set defeat officially ended MATC's season with a 34-8 overall record after concluding the tournament 0-2.

"I was disappointed with the fact that we weren't able to take advantage of an opportunity that we were given," DeLisle said. "We're still a great team and we had a great season. It's just sad that we will be missing our four sophomores for next year."

Despite dropping the opening set 8-25, the Stormers didn't allow themselves to feel defeated. They regained their composure and sparked a 7-0 run to help jump out to a 9-4 lead during the second set following a beautiful stretch by Avery Brieske from the service line. The sophomore setter fueled her team's 7-0 run by totaling five aces, including four-straight.

"Avery [Brieske] is a competitor," DeLisle said. "...When I saw Avery go back to serve, I knew that we had the right server back there. She was hitting her marks and we were just working their libero." In spite of Brieske's stellar run from the service line, the Thunderbirds were able to eventually knot things up at 12 points apiece before going on to secure the second set 25-20.

With their backs up against the wall, the Stormers weren't able to recapture the magic set by Brieske in the second set. Tied at 15 apiece, Mesa went on to close the final set on a 10-3 run.

While it wasn't the way the MATC wanted to conclude its season, they still managed to make school history. This season marked the first time that the Stormers won a NJCAA Region 4 (Midwest A District) championship, which also allowed them to reach the 2024 NJCAA DII Women's Volleyball National Tournament for the first time ever.

"When you're still at the national tournament it's easy to be disappointed sitting here because we didn't do better at nationals, but 155 other teams finished their season last week," DeLisle said. "This was a fabulous season – the winningest season in school history – especially with it only being our second season in Division II.

"So I think it was a great season and I think we need to focus on that more than our last loss."

STAT BOOK
Paige Siehr led the attack for Milwaukee Area Technical College. The sophomore outside hitter recorded a team-high seven kills on a .188% hitting percentage. Brieske totaled 10 digs, seven assists and a team-high five aces. Freshman outside hitter Rachel Krueger contributed eight digs and five kills. Freshman Kendall Revolinski had six kills and one dig. Freshmen opposite hitters Savannah Raymer and Savannah Wright each chipped in three kills apiece. Sophomore setter Hannah Council dished out a team-high 13 assists.