MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Milwaukee Area Technical College women's volleyball team opened postseason play with a sweep on its home court, defeating 12th-seeded Illinois Valley Community College 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23) on Wednesday night in the NJCAA Division II Region 4 Midwest A District Tournament.
The fifth-seeded Stormers improved to 30-11 overall and 9-1 at home, advancing to Saturday's district semifinal against No. 4 seed Harper College. The win marked MATC's second sweep of Illinois Valley this season, having also won 3-0 in their Sept. 19 regular-season meeting. It also moved the Stormers one step closer to defending their Midwest A District title and returning to the national tournament.
"My girls want this," MATC head coach
Shel DeLisle said. "They just dug deep and made sure that they came out ahead at the end, no matter how ugly that was."
MATC came out firing in Set 1, jumping to a 4-0 lead behind three Illinois Valley errors and a service ace from
Natalia Farrugia. The Eagles rallied to tie it at 7, but the Stormers responded with another 4-0 burst to go up 11-7. A
Rachel Krueger ace extended the lead to 14-9 and forced a timeout. Illinois Valley later used a 6-0 run to take its first lead at 17-16, but
Kayleah Laughlin answered with a kill and an ace to swing momentum back. Krueger followed with back-to-back kills, and later sealed the set with her fourth of the frame.
Set 2 followed a similar arc. MATC built a 10-3 lead, only to see Illinois Valley respond with a 6-0 run to pull within one. The Stormers countered with a 7-2 stretch, highlighted by two Farrugia kills and a block assist and kill from
Allison Chapman. The Eagles surged again, using a 7-0 run to take an 18-16 lead. Laughlin sparked the final push with a block to tie it at 19, then delivered two kills, two combo blocks and an ace to help MATC retake control. Krueger closed the set with another kill, giving the Stormers a 2-0 lead.
"I was just trying to execute because I was screwing up a lot," Laughlin said of her late-set surge. "I just focused on my breathing."
In the third, MATC dropped the opening point before rattling off five straight to take a 5-1 lead. After Illinois Valley closed to within 10-7, the Stormers responded with a 6-0 run to stretch the margin to 15-7. Laughlin's kill made it 18-9 before the Eagles mounted one final push, using a 10-3 run to close the gap to 21-19. Back-to-back kills forced a timeout at 23-19, but Illinois Valley clawed back to within one. A late service error gave MATC the final point it needed to seal the sweep.
"I really don't know why sometimes we lose focus after getting out to big leads," Laughlin said. "For me, I try to stay focused as much as I can, and I try to look to the next point. Sometimes I feel like people dwell on the last point, and we just need to stop doing that and just look forward and keep going."
As a unit, the Stormers totaled 35 kills on a .208 hitting efficiency, backed by nine service aces and 32 assists. Defensively, they racked up 46 digs, six block assists and five solo blocks to complete the sweep.
Laughlin led the way with a team-high 14.5 points, finishing with 11 kills on a .364 hitting percentage and three aces. Krueger added eight kills, two aces and seven digs, while Farrugia was nearly perfect at the net, going 4-for-5 with a block and an ace.
Libero Kim Busateri anchored the back row with a match-high 17 digs and added a service ace.
Hope Martens contributed six digs and a team-best 16 assists.
Grace Adams also reached double digits, handing out 13 assists and serving up two aces to help guide the offense.
UP NEXT
MATC (30-11) faces No. 4 seed Harper College in the Region 4 semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Madison College.
